Salt In My Cuts
by LoveableTurtle
Summary: Demi has been bullied all her life and lately she wishes it would all just...end. But when she falls in love with the main culprit, things get a little more complicated...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I never meant to fall in love. Especially not with her. She was always a big part of my life. But seeing as she bullied me and made my life miserable since my first day of kindergarten, she was never exactly a positive part of my life. I mean, it wasn't just her. She wasn't even the ringleader. Well, not until high school anyway. She was the only one who went to the same high school as me, so she kind of was the worst after we all left middle school. But anyway, I never did anything to her, or to anyone. They bullied me because I was fatter than them. I mean, I wasn't huge. I just wasn't super-skinny like everyone else was. I was always a tubby kid. They used to laugh at me, call me names. I mean, they were stupid names, things that I would laugh at nowadays. But as a kid, they hurt. And obviously, as I got older, the insults got worse. And by the time I hit high school, it was bad enough that I had to find a way to let it out, all the pain and the shame. So I started to cut.

At first it was just an experiment. I read all these articles, saying that it helped. I knew it was a sign of weakness, but I didn't care. I barely even cut deep enough for blood the first time, and it hurt like hell. But the pain did help, so I did it again. And again. I started wearing longer, baggier clothes, not only to hide the cuts but also so that if they bled the blood wouldn't show, and so they wouldn't rub. Of course, since I was wearing baggy clothes, the bullying only got worse. But it was okay, because I had a way of erasing all the pain. I started drinking too. Vodka, mainly. And only when the bullying was particularly bad. I even tried weed once, but I almost choked to death.

Eventually, I started making myself throw up too. It was an easy way to lose weight fast. Even though my mum and my sisters, Maddie and Dallas, always told me I wasn't fat, I would never believe them. They were family. They had to say that, right? I had no friends, no social life. I was all alone. Of course, there were the people that stared at me pityingly as I passed them in the halls. There were people who smiled at me when I saw them in town. But they never tried to approach me, to be friends with me. So I just stared right back until they looked away, uncomfortable. And I never smiled back. Smiling back would be like saying 'Its okay that you just ignore me and watch them hurt me'. And it's not. It's just not.

As you can imagine, my close family realised that there was something wrong with me. I mean, it was kind of obvious. But they didn't want to acknowledge it. They didn't want there to be anything wrong. So they just acted more careful around me and let me go on. They didn't realise the true extent of my problems, obviously. If they had they would have tried to help. But they didn't try, so they didn't see. I had never felt more alone than I did at that time in my life. Sometimes I considered just cutting a little deeper, ending it all. But then I would think about what my life could be, and what I could do with myself if I made it through high school. Maybe most of my dreams were a little unrealistic. But dreaming saved my life.

It happened on a Tuesday. I remember because we had had dodge ball. As usual, everyone targeted me. You only need to get hit once to be out. I got hit 13 times before the whistle had even blown. I counted. Every person that threw a ball at me would end up unemployed when I was president. I know it was stupid, but imagining that one day I would get my own back on all these people helped me get through the day. Afterwards, I changed in a toilet cubicle. I always did. They took the piss out of me if I didn't. But this time she followed me in.

"Hey fatty. Ashamed to show your body in front of everyone?" she spat. She was on the other side of the cubicle door, but I could just about see the mocking, disgusted look on her beautiful face. I could see her, stood there with one hand on her hip, her black hair falling perfectly over her shoulders. I sighed, ignoring her, and returned to what I was doing. It was once I had pulled my shirt off that she pulled herself up over the top of the cubicle. I gasped, using my shirt to cover myself. She looked at me, her eyes widening. I looked down at myself. I had thought I had lost a little weight, but I had never really looked at myself. My ribs were protruding underneath my barely-there boobs. I used to have big boobs, but they disappeared after I stopped eating.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? You look like a skeleton." She whispered, staring at me with disgust apparent in her eyes. That hurt. A lot. She had said a lot of things, looked at me with a lot of different emotions in her eyes. But never disgust. I had never seen her look disgusted by me. I felt the tears spring to my eyes, but suddenly I couldn't fight the anger any more.

"You want to know what's wrong with me? You're what's fucking wrong with me! Ever since I was a kid, you and almost everyone else has bullied me for being fat, and ugly. For seventeen years, I have felt like shit. So yeah, I cut myself, and I starve myself, and I make myself throw up, because I don't want to hurt anymore. I don't want to come to school every day and be made to feel like shit. So guess what? This," I shouted, gesturing to myself, "this is your fault. I hope you're happy." I said, and then shoved past her and out of the toilets. I had grabbed my bag, and I pulled on the baggy shirt I had worn to school this morning as I walked out. I was still in my gym shorts, but I didn't care. It wasn't like I was staying in school.

"Miss Lovato, are you-Demi! Demi! Demetria Lovato, get back here now! Where on earth do you think you're going?" coach yelled after me. I knew she couldn't leave her office, not if there were students in the changing rooms, so I just ignored her and kept walking. I didn't pass any other teachers or staff on my way out, but the gate was locked. I sighed, leaning my head against it. I checked my phone; the bell was going to go any second now. I had to get out, and fast. I swung my bag over the top of the gate and pulled myself up. It was pretty hard to climb, but I was pretty agile. Not very strong, but I didn't have to be. I weighed almost nothing.

I groaned loudly as the bell rang, and students began piling out of classrooms. For a second no-one saw me, then there was a gasp and everyone started talking, laughing. I ignored them, concentrating on getting over the top and back down the other side. Miss Diego, the maths teacher, ran out to see what the commotion was.

"Demi? Demi! What the hell are you doing?" she shouted over the voices.

"Getting out of here." I replied, before jumping down, grabbing my bag and running off down the street, as fast as I could. I knew I couldn't go home, since mom didn't work. She would frogmarch me straight back to school, and that couldn't happen. Sighing, I slowed my pace. I walked straight past my house, past the park, past everything I knew. Eventually I veered off down an alleyway to avoid having to pass a group of scary looking guys, and found myself walking through the 'buggies'. That was what everyone called this place. It was a rough neighbourhood, most people tended to avoid it. I was glad I ended up there. It seemed kind of like fate. Maybe something bad would happen to me. Maybe I would get killed. It would save me having to do the job myself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to those who read and reviewed last chapter...I wasn't planning to update until tomorrow but SOMEONE made me update... I hope you like this chapter! :)**

Chapter 2

I wandered around for a little while, trying to attract as much attention as possible. It must have been pretty obvious that I didn't belong there, but the worst thing that happened was getting a couple dirty looks from an old woman. I sighed, eventually deciding to just go back home. School should have ended by then, so my mum couldn't take me back there until tomorrow. I looked around for a minute, trying to remember which way I had come. That was when I saw her. Selena Perfect Gomez. The girl who made my life miserable every day, the girl who I always assumed had such a perfect life, the girl I had blown up at today. She was walking down the sidewalk, listening to music on her headphones.

That was the first time I ever really looked at her, like actually noticed what she was wearing. She had on a plain red shirt, and some cheap-looking jeans. And a pair of ratty, drawn-on sneakers on her feet. I'd never noticed before, but she looked like she was either too poor to afford new clothes or rich enough that it was trendy to wear old-looking clothes. And judging by the small, run-down apartment building she walked into, I guessed it wasn't the second option. Curious, I followed her. She nodded to the guy on the front desk, a dark-haired pale guy with way too many facial piercings.

I waited until he turned around, and then darted past the desk after her. She was already on the third flight of stairs. I groaned, realising that they were spiralled. She would see me if I wasn't careful. I tried to time it right, so that she wouldn't see me through the gaps. In fact, I was so busy trying to time it that I didn't notice when she stopped walking, and I ran straight into her. She still had her back to me, so she hadn't actually seen my face yet.

"Touch me, I got the cops on speed dial." She said, her voice low and threatening. I laughed cynically, making her whirl around, surprised. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and she glared.

"Trust me, I wasn't planning to touch you." I told her. She scowled.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Oh, I get it. Someone told you I live in the Buggies, and you wanted to check it out, maybe even take a few pictures, am I right? Get back at me for everything I've done to you? I wouldn't be surprised." She said, rolling her eyes, but I could see the tears behind the hate. I smiled a little, shaking my head.

"I wouldn't do that. I'm not that kind of person." I sighed, turning to leave. She grabbed my arm. I turned around, surprised. She pulled away quickly, staring at her hand as if they did it on their own.

"Why not? I mean, I deserve it. Look at you. Look at what I've done to you." She sneered. I winced.

"Yeah, but I'd rather only one of us miserable than both of us." I shrugged. She scoffed.

"Trust me; I couldn't get much more miserable than I am right now."

"That's not true. It might feel like it, but things can always get worse. Trust me." I said honestly. I couldn't believe that I was actually having a civil conversation with Selena. I had always imagined myself finally standing up to her and punching her, or doing something, anything, to get back at her. But now, faced with the perfect opportunity, I found myself unable to do anything to hurt her. And she, surprisingly, hadn't said anything hurtful to me at all in this conversation.

"Whatever." She said, turning to leave.

"Come on. I'm being serious. I have no idea why you're miserable, but it can't be that bad, can it?" I asked. Apparently, this was the worst thing I could have said. She whipped back around, stepping towards me, making me step backwards and almost fall down the steps. She glared at me.

"I don't know, you tell me. My stepdad beats up my mom every night. Some mornings she can't even drag herself out of bed. She walks with a limp 'cause he broke her leg a while ago and wouldn't let her go to the hospital to get a cast, and it healed wrong. My cousin, Bobby, lives with us because my aunt and uncle, who were the only members of my family that I actually liked, died in a house fire. He's a year older than me, and he comes into my bedroom and gets in my bed some nights. He says it's 'because he's scared; I think we both know what it's really about. School is the only place I can get away from it all." She started off shouting, but gradually lowered her voice as she explained.

I felt so bad for her in that moment. We were completely opposite. I had a great home life. Well, I did before everything, anyway. She has a crappy home life. I have a crappy school life, and she has a great one. In some ways, she was probably worse off than me. Although I still didn't understand why she was so horrible to me. I didn't understand how she could make someone else feel so miserable, knowing how it feels.

"I'm sorry. You have a shitty life, and if I could I would do anything to help you with that. But I can't." I sighed. She frowned, confused.

"Why would you want to help me? I've been nothing but horrible to you for years." She asked. I smiled a little.

"Because no-one deserves that. No-one." I said simply. It was true.

"Wow. You know, you're doing a really good job right now of making me feel bad about what I've done to you."

"Well we wouldn't want that, would we? My life just wouldn't be the same if you didn't make me miserable every day." I said sarcastically. She laughed at that.

"You know what I think? I think that if it weren't for everything I've done to you, we could be friends." She sighed. I smiled lightly.

"Maybe. Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Why do you hate me?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"I don't.

"Then what's the point of all this?" I gasped, exasperated. She stared at me blankly, then shrugged again.

"I don't know." She said.

"Wow. I mean, I get that you have a shitty life and everything, but that kinda makes things worse. You know what it feels like to have no-one, to be miserable. Why would you want to make someone else feel the same way?" I asked her, tears in my eyes. She just shrugged again, but then she opened her mouth, as if to say something. But she didn't speak. Just stared at me, like she wanted to tell me but couldn't.

"Well, if you have nothing to say, I guess we're done here." I sighed, turning to leave. I made it down two flights of stairs before she ran after me. I stopped and waited for her to catch up, expecting her to say something cruel. We had had a moment, sort of, but I felt like that was over now. But I was surprised, since when I turned around to talk to her, I felt her grab my arms and pull me to her into a rough kiss. I was so shocked that I froze, and after a few seconds she pulled away, flushed. We stood there for a second, the only sound her panting. I let out a breath that I hadn't realised I was holding, and she looked down.

"I'm sorry. I'll just go now." She sighed, making no move to leave.

"Erm…you don't have to go. It's fine…strange, but fine." I said. I hated this girl yesterday. I hated her so much. And now…all I wanted was to feel her lips on mine again. She just winced, smiling at me lightly.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" she asked.

"No. I'm guessing this isn't going to change anything, though, right?" I asked. I could see tears in her eyes, but she nodded.

"I'm sorry. I can't…people would murder me. Look, what I couldn't tell you…I've hated you since middle school because I liked you. I was confused, I didn't understand what I was feeling. I understand now; I'm gay. Pure and simple. But if people found out, I would never be able to show my face in school again. Anyway, by the time I was old enough to realise what I was doing to you, it felt like it was too late to stop. And I managed to convince myself that you had it coming. You wore all those baggy clothes to hide the fat; even though I knew you weren't fat. It was just…everyone else hated you. Even though it was my fault they hated you, I felt like I had to hate you too." She babbled. I could tell that she couldn't think of the right way to phrase things, but I understood her.

"I get it. Peer pressure. But sometimes…I'm not going to lie, you were always the worst. You were the one that made me cut, because your words hurt the most. I don't know why, they just did. And every time I considered going that one step further, ending it all, it was mostly because of something you said." I told her bluntly. I wasn't going to lie to spare her feelings; it wasn't like she ever tried to spare mine.

"And I'm so sorry about that. So sorry. I hate myself for being like that. But I can't stop."

"It's okay. It doesn't hurt much anymore. I have ways of…forgetting." I sighed, trying to be vague, but she understood. Her eyes widened.

"No way! I knew you were anorexic, that much was obvious, but you cut too? I've ruined your life." She wailed, distraught. I shook my head.

"You didn't give me the razor. You didn't tell me to cut. That part was all me. And you never told me not to eat either."

"Yeah, but I made you feel like you had to."

"You and all the others. I said you were the main culprit, not the only one. Without everyone else that joined in, and the ones who just sat back and watched, I would have been fine. I was weak. It's my fault." I sighed.

"I still blame myself. I know what it's like to be in that place…I was there once." She admitted, tugging the sleeve of her jumper up to show me a set of red scars. I gasped. I had never noticed. Then again, she always wore long-sleeved shirts. I guess I never really paid enough attention.

"How did you…stop?" I asked her. She laughed dryly.

"I cut a little too deep, got rushed to hospital. The doctors never said anything, but the way they looked at me…they knew. It was so embarrassing. I never want to be embarrassed like that again. So I don't take the risk." She explained. I smiled, glad she had managed to stop.

"I wish I had that kind of strength." I whispered. She smiled.

"You are strong. You're still here, aren't you?" she said. I smiled, nodding, as I realised that she didn't just mean still here on this earth. She meant still there, with her. It took a lot of strength to be there. To face the girl who had made my life a misery all these years. And to realise that she was a really great girl. The kind of girl I could fall in love with…

**Please review! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thanks so much for teh reviews for last chapter! :D I'm sorry this one's shorter, the next one will be longer I swear! I'm glad so many people like this story, and I hope you like this chapter! Enjoy!**

Chapter 3

When I got home that night my mom and Dallas were waiting for me in the kitchen. When I walked in they both gasped, then stood up to hug me. I had no idea why, but it felt so good so I let them hold me. I felt wetness on my shoulder and realised that someone was crying, but I wasn't quite sure who. Eventually they pulled away, Dallas wiping her eyes. It was her who had been crying, apparently. I stood there just looking at them for a moment. They both stared at me, taking me in, as if they would never see me again.

"Guys, you're scaring me. What is this?" I asked them. They both sighed, looking away.

"Well…look, Demi, we know you've been having trouble lately. We see the scars, we hear the throwing up. And we've been ignoring it, hoping that if we don't acknowledge it, it will go away. But it won't. I mean, look at you!" Dallas said, suddenly stepping forward to yank up the bottom of my T-shirt. I was so surprised I didn't try to stop her. My mom gasped, tears in her eyes. I glanced at her apologetically, but she was too busy staring at my stomach to see. I felt so guilty; she looked so wretched, I hated myself for making her feel so terrible.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I never wanted you guys to find out. I've been so miserable, and it's not your fault at all! It was just…it was a way of making the pain go away. And it worked. Look at me; I've lost loads of weight." I joked, trying to make things a little less depressing, but ended up bursting into tears. Dallas soon followed, and they both soon enveloped me in another hug. The three of us stood there, holding onto each other and crying our eyes out, for God knows how long. We didn't pull apart until Maddie walked in.

"What's happening?" she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily. We pulled away, smiling. She was so cute, and innocent. I couldn't bear to think of her having to deal with the sister who cuts herself and throws up every night, so I decided then and there that I would try to stop. Try to stop myself from messing up my sister's life too. Because that's what I was doing. She wouldn't hate me, obviously. She would understand, and she would try to help me. But she shouldn't have to deal with it in the first place. She's so young, and innocent. **(I'm pretty sure Maddie is eleven, so that's how old she is in this story) **

"Nothing you need to worry about baby." I said.

"Are you okay Demi?" she asked me, looking at me caringly. I smiled, fighting back more tears. I didn't want to upset her even more.

"I'm fine." I said.

"Your sister is just going to go away for a little while, baby." Said my mom softly. I whirled around, frowning. I had no idea what she meant.

"Where is she going?" she asked, also frowning, and looking at me. I stammered for a second before mom cut me off.

"Your sister hasn't been very well lately. She's going to a special hospital to make her better. I don't know how long she'll be there for, but she'll be back in no time, okay?" she explained. I stood there, in shock. They were sending me to rehab. REHAB! I mean, I understood where they were coming from. But they could have at least asked me first.

"Oh, okay. I hope you get better Demi." She sighed, walking over with her arms out for a hug. I smiled at her and pulled her to me tightly. I love her so much. I breathed deeply, inhaling her familiar scent.

"Good night Maddie." I whispered.

"Good night Demi. I hope they make you better so you don't cry anymore." She whispered. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. I pulled away and turned around quickly so that she wouldn't see me crying. I went to the counter and poured myself a glass of water, my hands shaking. I listened as my mom and Dallas said goodnight to Maddie, only turning back around when I heard her soft feet padding up the stairs. I looked at my mom. She just smiled weakly, and I winced as tears started running from her eyes too.

"I'm sorry honey. This whole thing was supposed to be an intervention kind of thing. I don't know if you do drugs, or if you drink, but this place is for cutting and eating disorders as well. I think it's the best thing for you. They offer help and support in a temptation-free environment, with trained professionals to help you to recover, physically and mentally, from any and all problems you struggle with." She explained. I rolled my eyes at the way she said it, as if she were in a TV ad or something.

"Mom, you sound like you're reciting it straight from the leaflet. What do you honestly think of it?" I asked her. She shrugged. I looked at Dallas, who shrugged as well.

"Do you think it will help me?" I tried again.

"I think it's worth a try." She whispered. That was good enough for me. My family wanted me to get better and that was enough to make me want to get better too.

"Then I'm going. When do I leave?" I asked.

"Well, the advice is to get you there as soon as possible after you decide to leave, in case you change your mind, so we thought you could pack tonight and we could drive you down there tomorrow morning." She suggested. I nodded, knowing that would be best. I was likely to change my mind given the chance. So I just went upstairs, into my bedroom, grabbed my suitcase and started packing. My sister came in after a minute, sitting on my bed and watching me silently. Eventually I laughed.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." I said. She smiled and pulled out her phone.

"Okay then. Smile!" she said. I chuckled, shaking my head.

"I was joking." I said. She shrugged.

"I wasn't. You're about to go off to rehab for God knows how long. I want a nice picture of you before you go." She said.

"You know I don't do pictures." I reminded her.

"Well you should. You're beautiful. And this is just me. No-one else has to see it. Please?" she begged. I caved, smiling at her. She pulled up the camera but I shook my head. I got up and went to sit next to her on the bed, leaning in. She got the idea and turned the phone around so she could take a picture of the two of us together. Just as she took it. I sneezed. We looked at each other silently as she turned around the camera for us to see the picture. We both burst out laughing. My face was all scrunched up and her mouth was open slightly, since I surprised her when I sneezed.

"Sorry. Come on let's take it again." She said, moving to hit the delete button.

"No!"

"Why?"

"I like that picture. Keep it." I said. She smiled.

"It certainly is…unique." She said. I laughed again.

"I'm really going to miss you." I told her as we posed again for a second photo, this one coming out perfectly. I actually liked a picture of me for the first time. My hair looked perfectly curled and tame, and my face looked flawless, no spots. And I didn't think I looked fat. But somehow, I kinda like the other one better.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Dummy." She smiled, using her old nickname for me. I grinned. We hadn't called each other by our nicknames for so long.

"Don't worry, Dat-ass. You've got the lovely pictures of me to remember me by. And I'll be out before you know it." I said.

"Can you do me a favour?" she asked me. I nodded.

"Please be out by Christmas." She asked me. I nodded, smiling.

"I promise to try. But if I'm not ready…"

"Oh, God no! I meant, try to get better by Christmas. But I understand it's going to be difficult for you. Good luck." She sighed, pulling me into a big hug. I grinned. I was glad I was going to rehab, to get better. But I had a feeling I was going to hate it.

And as I lay in bed that night, selfish as it may be, all I could think about was the fact that I wouldn't be able to tell Selena that I was going. She would probably figure it out…or make up her own story and spread it around school, just to humiliate me further. It was hard to tell. But one thing was for sure; I was going to torture myself by thinking about her all the time I was there. Whether I wanted to or not.

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dallas woke me up at five so that we could get going. Mom was staying home with Maddie, but she got up to hug me goodbye. Maddie was still asleep, and I didn't want to wake her, so I just kissed her on the forehead and whispered goodbye in her ear, hoping that she wouldn't be too upset that I had left without saying a proper goodbye. Dallas and I climbed into her car in silence, her only speaking once to tell me to put my seatbelt on. I was notorious for forgetting-or maybe it was my subconscious making me do it on purpose. Whatever the reason, I put it on. I was finally going to try to get better, and I wasn't going to risk being killed in a car crash before I even got to rehab. After about two hours of driving in silence, I cracked.

"How far away is this place?" I asked Dallas. She smiled.

"Only another hour or so. There were places a little closer to home, but this place was the best. And we figured it would be easier of you were far away, so you weren't so close to where it all began and everything, you know?" she explained. I smiled, nodding. I was glad it was far away; I wouldn't be so tempted to walk out. When we eventually got there, I was having second thoughts. The building was nice enough, but when I thought about it, about not knowing how long I would be there, it scared me. But when we walked through the doors the woman on the front desk smiled warmly at us. She asked a few questions, filled in some paperwork and that was it. I was in. She asked me to say goodbye to Dallas, but we had already said goodbye the night before and I didn't want to ruin that so I just gave her a quick hug and an 'I'll miss you', before watching her walk out of the door. That was the first time in a long time that I had watched someone I loved walk away from me and not felt like they were leaving me for good.

"Okay, Demi. This is where you'll be staying for however long you wish to remain with us." She said kindly, ushering me into a medium-sized room with a gorgeous view and a small but comfortable-looking bed. There were enough drawers for the few clothes I had brought, and some shelf space for the books and things that I had brought. There was also a computer and a desk in one corner, but the login screen required a password and I got the feeling I wouldn't be spending much time on it, if any time at all.

"Will there be anything extra you require?" she asked me. I shook my head.

"Where's the bathroom?" I asked her, looking around for a door I might have missed. She smiled.

"Down the hall, fourth door on your left." She said. I stared at her, shocked; I didn't even get my own bathroom?

"What if-how do-how many others are here?" I finally asked. I couldn't believe I might have to share a bathroom with God knows how many other people.

"Including you we have seven residents at the moment." She told me. I relaxed. Only six other people. I could live with that.

"Oh, okay. Why are there so few? This place is really big?" I asked her.

"Well, we are a very upmarket centre…" she said vaguely. I got the gist; this place was expensive. Very expensive. And exclusive. No wonder they had wanted me to come here instead of somewhere else. I had already realised it was a pretty good place, but not this good. **(A/N; I'm not actually sure if it costs anything to go to rehab, but let's just say in this story it does.)**

"Okay. How about food?" I asked her. She smiled even wider, but by now I was getting the impression that she was paid to smile all the time.

"Well, let me take you down to the dining area." She said, gesturing for me to leave my room and follow her down the staircase and across the hall. I tried to memorise the route, in case she didn't show me again. We walked into a small room with a reasonably large dining table in the middle, big enough to seat about 12. That seemed like the right size, since there were seven residents and I assumed there would be a couple of staff members supervising us while we eat.

"This is where you will be eating. Breakfast will be served at 8:00 sharp, but for the first couple of weeks you are allowed to come down a little earlier or later to eat alone. Well, without the other residents. There will be a member of staff with you at all times unless you are in your room, of course." She said, smiling. I tried to smile back, but I couldn't. A member of staff with me At All Times. It had finally hit home that I was here, in rehab. Even though it was good for me, it was making me better, I couldn't help but feel tempted to turn around and run right back out the door and catch a bus back home. Back to real life. But then I thought of what else I would be going back to. Bullying. Cutting. Anorexia. Bulimia. Hating myself. And I knew that this was the best place for me.

"Miss Lovato? Are you okay?" asked the woman, frowning at me worriedly. I smiled reassuringly; I must have been daydreaming. I realised that I hadn't even asked her what her name was.

"Sorry, erm…what's your name?" I asked her. She smiled.

"None of the others ever asked me my name, you know. They just call me 'miss'." She said.

"I could call you miss if you prefer…" I offered. She shook her head.

"No, no. My name is Lydia." She said.

"Okay then, Lydia. Anywhere else you need to show me?" I asked her.

"Well, not usually, but I have nothing else to do and if you would rather not sit in your room for hours doing nothing, I guess I could give you a proper tour." She offered. I grinned, nodding. Anything to have less time to myself.

"Yes please. Can we start with the gardens? I'm assuming I can go in the gardens, right?" I asked her. She nodded, smiling.

"Yeah. In fact, I think the others are all out there now. I could introduce you if you'd like." She offered. I nodded. I was pretty nervous about meeting the others, but I figured it would be best to get it out of the way.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Oh, yeah. Lunch and dinner are served at 1:00 and 7:00 sharp. In the afternoon, of course. Again, you can eat a little earlier or later for either of these meals for the first couple of weeks, but I have a feeling you're going to get on with the others fine. They're all really nice, one or two of them a little hostile to newcomers. But I'm sure you'll be okay. You're one of the nicest people I've ever met. I can't believe you're actually in this place." She said, before slapping her hand over her mouth. I frowned, confused.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I can't believe I said that, I did not just say that, please don't tell anyone I just said that!" she squealed, looking terrified. I smiled.

"I don't understand what you said wrong, but I swear I won't tell anyone." I told her. She smiled, nodding at me.

"Thanks Demi." She sighed, relieved.

"No problem Lydia." I replied, before gasping as we walked out the doors. I had seen the gardens in front, which were quite big and very beautiful. But the back garden took the cake. It was huge and split into different sections, like a vegetable garden, plain grass, a landscaped section etc. It looked beautiful. I was almost afraid to walk on the grass; it was that perfect, and green. I spotted the others in the distance, quite spread out, lounging around in the sun. I smiled. They all looked so happy; you would never think that they were all in rehab. I was expecting them to all be adults, in their twenties at lease, but as we got closer I realised that they were all around my age.

"Lydia, is this a teen rehab?"

"Well, the correct term is adolescent rehabilitation centre, but yeah, basically." She said. I nodded, understanding. I should have known my mom and Dallas wouldn't have sent me to a normal rehab. I was only seventeen, after all.

"Great. I don't know why, but I was expecting them all to be way older than me, so I would be, like, the baby. I'm so glad that's not the case." I explained, relieved. She laughed.

"Oh, don't worry. You're one of the eldest. In fact, I think there's only one girl who's older than you." She said.

"Who's who then?" I asked her.

"Well, those two are Heather and Naya." She pointed to a couple of girls sat close together, talking animatedly about something.

"Yeah."

"That girl there is Lea, and the other one close to her is Taylor." She said, pointing to two girls, one who was sat under a tree reading, the other sunbathing in eh grass. I tried to commit the names to memory; it would be easier to make friends if I knew who they were.

"Okay, got it."

"The blonde one sat on the wall over there is Hannah. She's a little quiet but I've heard her singing as I've walked past her bedroom; she's like a different person when she sings. And finally, the brunette over there who looks angry, that's Miley." She pointed them both out. I smiled at the relaxed, faraway look on Hannah's face, but frowned when I saw how angry and upset Miley looked.

"Why is she angry?" I asked.

"Oh, she's not. Well, she is, but that's normal. She's perpetually angry. She likes to spend all her time either out here, away from everyone else, or alone in her room. But I have spoken to her, and she's not rude, or angry at me. I don't think she's even angry about being here. I think she's just angry at the world for giving her such a shitty-I mean, rubbish life." She said, blushing when she corrected the swear word.

"Don't worry, I swear all the time." I laughed reassuringly.

"Oh, no, it's just that the residents aren't supposed to be allowed to swear, as part of the anger-management course everyone goes through. Which means staff aren't really supposed to swear in front of residents, or say anything bad really. And we have to smile all the time. I go home at night and have to get my girlfriend to massage my face. It hurts." She joked. I laughed, then froze, realising what she had said.

"Wait, did you say girlfriend?" I asked, shocked. She blushed, biting her lip as she nodded.

"I wasn't planning to tell you…we aren't; supposed to talk about personal things with the residents. But yes, I'm gay. I'm engaged to my girlfriend Natalie." She explained, tensing as if preparing herself for something. I just smiled.

"Wow. I think that's really sweet. When are you getting married?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I always wanted to get married in my local church, but the vicar says being gay is a sin. We're campaigning for him to let us be married by someone else, but he won't let up." She sighed. I patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"Hey, don't let it get you down. Never give up, okay?" I said. She smiled, nodding.

"Oy, miss! Who's that?" shouted the girl called Miley. Lydia looked at her quickly, smiling a little unenthusiastically.

"This is Demi. She's our newest resident." She said. They all stood up as I braced myself for the introductions.


	5. Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

After about five minutes I was laughing and joking with all the girls. Except Miley. I don't know what I was worried about; they were all so nice, and they didn't once ask me why I was there. I was tempted to ask all of them why they were there, but I didn't want to be rude or intrusive, and I didn't particularly want to tell any of them about why I was there, so I kept my mouth shut.

"So, Demi…do you have a boyfriend?" Hannah asked after we had drifted into a comfortable silence. I smiled, shaking my head.

"I've never had a boyfriend; all the boys hate me." I sighed, looking at the ground. I was embarrassed. I was seventeen years old and had never even kissed a boy. Although, to be fair, I had never really looked at a boy and wanted to kiss him…

"Really? But you're so pretty? Although you're all skin and bones…don't you ever eat?" Taylor joked, but I winced, looking down to hide the tears in my eyes. She shut up quickly, and I felt hands on my back, rubbing comfortingly.

"I'm so sorry Demi, I had no idea…that's why you're here, isn't it?" she asked sadly. I nodded, wiping my eyes as I looked up to smile at her.

"It's okay. And yeah, that's why I'm here. It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist…although that's not the only reason." I admitted. They all looked at me questioningly, but no-one said a word. They didn't have to; I was already planning to tell them everything. I had been cautious, but the relief I had felt when I admitted the first part was amazing.

"I-I-I c-I cu- let me just show you." I sighed, defeated, as I struggled to get the words out. Instead I slowly pulled up the sleeve of my sweatshirt to show them the raw cuts from just a day ago. They all acted less surprised than I expected; in fact, Taylor and Heather nodded, smiling softly.

"Don't worry; you're not the only one." Taylor said, pulling up her own sleeve to show faded scars. Heather and Lea did the same, and I gasped when I saw the livid red wounds stitched up across Lea's wrist. She smiled sadly.

"I tried to kill myself. My parents died in a car crash last year and then a month ago my fiancé, Cory, dumped me because I was 'too depressing'." She explained, tearing up. I leaned forward to wrap my arms around her, surprising myself. It was strange how fast I had gotten to like these girls. They just seemed so…confident, so happy. And they were all beautiful. I couldn't understand why any of them would do anything to end up here.

"What an idiot. You deserve so much better." I told her. She nodded, smiling.

"I know that now. But at the time it seemed like the end of the world. Our relationship was the only thing that was holding me together. I loved him, but I am who I am, and I lost my parents a year ago. If he can't accept that I'm not over that yet, he's not worth my time." She shrugged. I was glad she didn't seem so sad about it anymore.

"I'm glad you realise that." I sighed.

"So, can I ask why you…do what you do?" asked Naya, the quietest of the group. I smiled, nodding, glad that she had actually asked. I had thought she maybe didn't like me, or felt hostile towards me, but the fact that she would ask me that convinced me that she was probably just shy.

"I've been bullied for my entire life. I used to be a chubby kid, and the other kids were relentless. Over the years it's just gotten worse, so I started purging, and then I started cutting, or it might have been the other way around…whatever it was, it was bad. I was in such a bad place. Things are a little better now, since I spoke to Selena…" I trailed off, confused at the wrenching feeling I felt in my stomach when I mentioned Selena. Naya sighed.

"Selena is a pretty name. Everyone used to say my name was a pretty name. But they didn't seem to care how pretty my name was when they started calling me Naya the Whore, and Naya the Slut." She sighed, tearing up.

"Naya, don't talk about this. It only upsets you." Heather started, draping her arm across Naya's shoulder protectively. I could tell they were close, but from the way Naya relaxed and closed her eyes at Heather's gentle touch, I guessed there was maybe a little more to it than that.

We drifted into another comfortable silence, just sat there in the bright sunlight for a while. After a few minutes, Naya drifted off and Heather called Lydia over to help carry her back to her room. We watched them go in silence, then all turned back to face each other.

"What was that about?" I asked. They glanced at each other, and then Lea sighed.

"She might as well know. It's not like it's a secret, and if she doesn't know who's to say she won't say something to set Naya off?" Lea said to Hannah and Taylor. They nodded. Hannah started talking.

"Basically, Naya was always really popular in her school. She was head cheerleader, dating the captain of the football team, blah blah blah. She was also captain of the celibacy club. Celibacy was a big thing in her school; it was a religious school or something. Anyway, she got raped. If this was a movie there would be some sort of big dramatic story about the rape, but it's real life, so basically this guy grabbed her in an alleyway and had his way with her. She told her mom, but didn't go to a clinic or the police. She wanted to just forget about it, and other than signing her up for a few therapy sessions her mom let her deal with it herself. After a while, she realised that she was pregnant. She told her mom, again, and tried to hide it from everyone else for as long as she could, but once she had to start going to school in regular clothes 'cause her cheerleader uniform didn't fit anymore, people put two and two together. Her boyfriend dumped her and she was kicked off the squad and out of the celibacy club, and became the school slut. Her best friend knew the truth, and tried to convince her to tell the police and her other friends, anything to stop the bullying. But she refused. So she was bullied so badly she eventually overdosed. The doctors managed to save her, but her mom sent her here. Mainly so she could recover from the shock of eh rape and the wanting to die and stuff, but also because she was embarrassed to have a suicidal daughter. So, basically, Naya has a shitty life right now. Of course, the entire school knows she was raped now. But there's no telling what will happen to her when she recovers and goes back; if she goes back, that is." Hannah explained. The other two sat staring at the ground, only looking up when Heather came back and sat down silently. I listened to the entire story in shocked silence, and stared at them all, appalled, when she had finished explaining.

"That's fucked up, that is. I feel bad for thinking I had problems. But, hang on, she doesn't look pregnant…" I trailed off at the end, realising that there was only one explanation for that fact. Heather nodded, tearing up.

"She lost the baby when she overdosed. Doctors said she probably would have lost it anyway. She wasn't ready to have a kid. Sometimes I worry that she's never going to get better. I sit up with her at night sometimes, and she whispers stuff in her sleep. Stuff about being a baby killer. Being worse than Satan. I wish she could stop blaming herself." Heather said, openly crying. She wiped her eyes, staring at her wet hand like she hadn't even noticed she was crying, then shaking her head like she didn't even care. I rubbed her back soothingly, surprised when she leant into my side. I guess when you only have six other people to be close to, you had to make friends quickly.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked her after a while. She nodded. It had started getting dark and Lydia was yelling for us to come inside now.

"I'll be fine; it's Naya I'm worried about. I need to go check on her. I'll talk to you later, okay?" she said, smiling at me. I nodded, watching her run back inside, straight past Lydia. She really loved Naya, that I could tell. Even after only knowing them for a few hours. As we all stood and made our way back inside, I looked at the other two, and at Miley, walking behind us on her own, scowling for no apparent reason. I realised that we all had a lot of healing to do. In fact, I would probably be out here before any of the others. But I knew that after I left this place, I would have six new friends. Friends for life. The first real friends I will ever have had.

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	6. Chapter 6

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Chapter 6

I had a few therapy sessions with the live-in psychiatrist, which helped a lot. I was finally able to let everything out to a person who wasn't going to judge me, or feel sorry for me, and who legally couldn't repeat anything I had said. I had heard people saying how rubbish therapy is and how it never works, and it didn't cure me completely of course, but it definitely helped. A lot. I was in my room one night, thinking about Selena, when Miley barged in. She hadn't spoken to me at all since I arrived, so I was surprised when she sat down on my bed and lay back, sighing loudly.

"Erm…hello?" I said questioningly. She laughed sarcastically.

"Hey." She replied. After a minute of silence, I couldn't take it any longer.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"I couldn't take the silence anymore. It was killing me." She whispered hoarsely, and I realised that she had been crying. I got to my feet quickly and ran to shut the door, then gently sitting next to her on the bed.

"What's happened?" I asked her.

"It's all too much. Being here, not being able to see my mom, my boyfriend…my daughter." She trailed off, that last part coming out so quietly I barely heard. But I did hear, and I was shocked.

"You have a daughter?" I asked her. She nodded miserably, sitting up to look me in the eyes.

"I had her four years ago. At first it was okay. My boyfriend and I had plenty of help, from our parents and our friends, etc. But after a while, our friends started to go off to college, and we lost touch. Even our parents got sick of seeing us so often, and we ended up having practically no help. I mean, I'm not complaining. I know it's my responsibility as a parent, and I don't expect others to help. But it was just because we went from having loads of help to none at all so quickly, I had no time to adapt and…I got too stressed. Started getting drunk, and then I started on the drugs. After about nine months of me being out every night and being arrested all of five times, my boyfriend got sick of it and sent me to treatment. I haven't touched drugs or alcohol since; because there is none. If there was, I would be straight on it. Even after all this time, it hasn't gotten any better. I'm still constantly dying for a drink." She explained, crying openly.

"Do you want to get over it?" I asked her quietly. She was shaking, so I gently laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn't shrug it off, so I started rubbing her shoulder comfortingly.

"I don't know. What difference does it make?" she answered harshly. I smiled.

"It makes all the difference. You won't get over it if you don't want to. Think about ti this way; do you love your daughter?" I asked her. She went red and glared at me, outraged.

"Of course I do! What on earth-" I shushed her.

"I know, I know. I knew you loved her. So, do you want her to grow up with an alcoholic, druggie mother?" I asked her. Her eyes widened as it sunk in that what she was doing was affecting her daughter just as much as it was affecting her.

"I-I…of course not. I never thought about it that way. I can't…she can't be around me, not while I'm like this." She said, sounding frightened. I smiled sympathetically.

"Do you want her to grow up without a mother?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"Never…I know what that's like. I won't let her grow up without a mother." She replied.

"Well, then, you'll have to change won't you? She needs you there, but she needs you drug and alcohol free, right?"

"Yes." She confirmed.

"So you do want to get over this? You do want to get better?" I asked her, just to be completely certain.

"Definitely. You know, you're so smart. You've helped me and you've made Lea feel better, and more. I find it hard to believe that you would have any problems of your own big enough that you can't solve them yourself." She said, looking me right in the eye. I turned away, nervous.

"I guess I'm just crap at taking my own advice." I shrugged. She frowned, shaking her head slightly.

"No, I don't think that's it. I think maybe…you're scared. You're scared of getting better. You're scared that when you're healthy again, when you've stopped purging and cutting, the bullying will drive you back down that road. And you would rather not stop in the first place then stop and start again." She said. I looked at her, realising that she was right. I had only ever half-wanted to get better. The other half loved how I was. How I could get rid of the pain so easily. I think I knew that, in my heart, all along. But it had only taken a girl I had barely even spoken to to figure out exactly what my problem was. And now that I knew what it was, I could fix it.

"Thanks Miley. You're completely right." I said, grinning widely at her. She smiled back. I think that was the first time I ever saw her smile.

"No problem. And you're completely right too. I'm so glad we had this talk. I think now I can finally start healing. I know it's still going to be difficult, and it will be hard for you too. But we can help each other get through it, right?" she asked I nodded, smiling, as we stood up.

"Come on, let's go get dinner." I said. She nodded in agreement, linking her arm through mine. I winced as it brushed against one of my most recent cuts, but they were all pretty much healed now so it didn't hurt too much. Besides, the pain was good. It reminded me of what I had one to myself, and made me want to stop. We walked down into the dining room arm in arm, much to the surprise of everyone already there. Lydia actually dropped the mug she was holding; luckily, it was empty. Hannah was the first to speak.

"Wow, Miley, you can smile!" she said in awe, before her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth as she realised what she had said. Everyone burst out laughing, including Miley.

"Apparently I can laugh too." She replied, pulling her arm away from mine and walking over to hug Hannah. Hannah looked shocked for a second, then smiled and hugged her back.

"What happened? You're usually so…depressed." Heather asked. Miley shrugged, smiling as she walked around the room, hugging everyone in turn. She even hugged Lydia, which looked kinda awkward since Lydia was carrying a tray of food, but still.

"Well, me and Demi had a nice long chat about everything and I guess she made me realise that I had to get better. Not for me, but for Debby." She sighed, smiling at the thought of her daughter. Everyone frowned, confused.

"Who's Debby?" Naya asked. Miley smiled, but I heard her take a deep breath as she braced herself for their reactions.

"Debby is my daughter. She's four." She told them. There was a collective gasp, and then everyone smiled.

"I knew you were hiding something!" gasped Taylor, standing up to practically run over and hug Miley again. Miley returned the hug happily. I grinned, realising just how much Miley had changed in the few minutes we had been talking from the completely bemused looks on everyone's faces. Even Miley herself looked a little confused, although that might have been because she wasn't used to all the hugs and smiles and questions she was getting.

"So, Miley, does this mean you'll be going soon?" Hannah asked sadly. The two had been getting along really well since we had gotten there, and I suspected that they were going to be great friends for a long time to come.

"I don't know Han. Probably not…as much as I want to get over it, right now the temptation to leave so I can go get something to drink or smoke or whatever is still just as bad as it's always been. I don't think it will ever get better. I think I will just have to learn to resist temptation, and believe me, that does not sound like an easy thing to me right now. I definitely won't be 'cured' anytime soon. I doubt I will ever be cured, not properly. But as for when I'll be ready to leave here and get on with my life, be a part of my family again…I don't know. But I swear to you, once I leave it will not be the end. For any of us. I'm going to keep in touch with you all. You may not realise it, but all this time I haven't been talking to any of you, you've been helping me. Just seeing you guys visibly heal in front of me makes me realise that I can heal too. So thanks." she said, smiling. Everyone had finished eating by now, so once everyone was done smiling and talking and hugging her, we all went upstairs to bed. I saw Naya and Heather go into the same room, and I smiled. They were so perfect for each other; both of them had been broken, and they were helping each other to heal. I said goodnight to everyone else and went to bed. And just like every other night I had spent here, I dreamt about Selena. But this time, Miley was in the dream too. And Hannah, and Taylor…all my friends. It was the best dream I had ever had.

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	7. Chapter 7

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Chapter 7

The days in treatment went so fast, I was surprised when I went into my room after nine months and found Lydia packing my suitcase. When she heard me come in she turned around and smiled gently. I smiled back, obviously looking confused, because she laughed a little, trying to lighten the moment.

"It's been nine months, Demi. You've been fine for a while now, but it's officially time for you to leave. As much as I want you to, you can't stay here if you're not 'troubled' anymore." She explained sadly. I smiled back in understanding, but I could tell that the disappointment I saw in hers probably mirrored my own exactly.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I'm leaving already. It's gone so fast! God, I'm going to miss you all so much!" I cried, pulling Lydia into a big bear hug. She hesitated for a second, and then hugged me back. We stayed like that, locked in a tight embrace, for a while. I felt my heart speed up and struggled to breathe. I could feel her body pressed against me, and even though I knew it was so wrong for me to feel this way, I couldn't help it. When she pulled away, I looked straight into her eyes and couldn't help myself anymore. I leant forwards and kissed her. She gasped, freezing momentarily, before pulling away and darting away from me.

"Erm….wow." she said awkwardly. I blushed, feeling myself turn bright red, and turned to run out the room. Halfway down the hall, I ran into Miley.

"Hey, hey Dems! What's the matter?" she gasped, taking one look at my tear-stained face and pulling me into her arms. I felt nothing when Miley hugged me; well, nothing but warmth and friendship.

"N-not here. Can we go in your room?" I stuttered. She nodded, understanding and led me quickly back to her room. When we got there I flopped down on the bed, trying to hold back more tears. She sat beside me, stroking my hair comfortingly.

"I kissed Lydia." I whispered, and her hand froze for a second. I glanced at her face to see surprise and confusion, but was glad to see there was no hint of disgust, or anger, or anything that might make me regret telling her.

"Isn't she engaged?" she asked me, resuming the hair-stroking. I nodded, feeling fresh tears leak out.

"That's the thing. I'm not crying because she doesn't love me. I'm crying because I finally know for sure that I'm gay. And even though I don't mind that, I'm scared. Scared of what my mom and sisters will think. Scared of what other people will think if they find out. And now I'm scared that Lydia will never talk to me again." I sighed. I jumped as I heard Lydia's voice from the doorway.

"Don't be silly, of course I'll talk to you. I'm not angry, I promise." She told me gently, walking into the room and coming over to sit on the bed on the other side of me. I sat up slowly, wiping away the tears.

"You're really not angry?" I asked her. She nodded, smiling comfortingly.

"I know you aren't in love with me. I can tell. It's the same as it would be if you were straight and I was a guy. There's a certain attraction, and if I wasn't engaged, I definitely wouldn't have pulled away like I did. Not because I'm in love with you, but because I like you, and you're a sexy beast, Demi." She said, then slapped her hand over her mouth, unable to believe what she had just said. I giggled, wiping the last tears from my eyes.

"Thanks so much for understanding, Lydia. You're the best.2 I smiled, hugging her again. This time the attraction was still there, but now I wasn't so confused it was easy to resist the temptation of kissing her. I mean, don't get me wrong, I would have loved to date her. But she was engaged, and it wasn't like I was in love with her, or vice versa. It was mostly because I had wanted to prove to myself that I was gay, and now that I had done that the attraction I felt was easier to understand, if that makes sense. In any case, I was glad I hadn't ruined our friendship. I sighed as I realised that I would now have to go around and say goodbye to all my friends here. We weren't allowed phones while in treatment, but if I gave Lydia my details I knew I could trust her to give them to the others once they were out.

"I'm leaving now, Miles." I told her after Lydia had left. She frowned, confused, before she realised what I meant. Her eyes widened.

"Oh no! You can't go! I'll miss you too much!" she shouted dramatically, throwing herself on me and hugging me so tight I could barely breathe. I heard footsteps as everyone else ran down the hall and into the room, looking worried.

"We heard shouting and wondered what was wrong. We thought someone was being killed!" said Taylor. I pretended to choke and cough. They all giggled.

"Looks like someone is. Miles, let Dems breathe!" Lea said, laughing. I laughed too, but when Miley pulled away I was shocked to see real tears on her face. Everyone promptly stopped laughing.

"What's wrong Miley babe?" asked Hannah. I sighed, knowing this was going to be dramatic but loving the thought that they were all going to miss me so much.

"I'm going home today." I sighed, turning to face the group. I prepared myself and wasn't surprised when they all launched themselves on me, piling on top for a huge group hug. I couldn't stop myself from laughing through the tears as I hugged the six best friends and probably the best people I had ever met. Eventually we all pulled apart and they escorted me back to my room, where all my stuff had been packed into my small suitcase by Lydia. I smiled gratefully at her, not wanting to speak since I knew I would just start blushing. Then there would be questions, and I wanted to spend my last couple of hours here having fun with my friends.

We went outside and ran around, laughing and joking and playing around. After a little while the sun came out and we all got hot, so we stripped down to our underwear and sunbathed for a while. We talked while we bathed, just about stupid, random things like childhood memories and funny stories. Then Miley came out with something that shocked us all.

"You know what, Dems? You're the best treatment any of us have had at this place." I stared at her, confused.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, before you came here, I hated everyone and everything. They all got along, but it was all more of a superficial relationship. Except for Naya and Heather, I think we can all agree we were more like acquaintances that friends. Then you got here, and it all changed. Now we're all like sisters. And not one of us hasn't improved since you arrived. I finally managed to get everything out and decide I wanted to change. Naya can finally talk about what happened openly. Taylor says she would never, ever consider cutting herself again. You've healed us more that nay drugs ever could, Demi. Legal or not." She explained. I felt myself tear up, and couldn't hold them back once she was done and I heard them all agreeing.

"Oh come on guys. It's not just me. Sure, maybe I brought us all together, but that's the reason you guys are getting better. You each have six other people to help you. I came her thinking I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, and meeting you guys, hearing your stories, I now know that there will always be people worse off than me. And if I ever forget that and start slipping, going back to the way I was, there are six amazing girls there for me, only a phone call away." I sighed. We all went silent, just relaxing and feeling comfortable in each other's presences. Eventually Lydia came out to tell me Dallas was here to pick me up. They all followed me out onto the front lawn, and Dallas stared in awe as I hugged each one in turn. I eventually approached my sister, fighting back tears. She looked me up and down, a huge grin appearing on her face as she took in my healthy looking skin, my curvier body, my smiling face.

"Hey Demi." She said happily. And I burst into tears. Because I knew she wasn't saying hello to her sister she hadn't seen for nine months; she was saying hello to her sister she hadn't seen for almost nine years.

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	8. Chapter 8

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Chapter 8

When I got home mom and Maddie were sat at the dining table, grinning madly. It was perfect. No huge 'welcome home' party with loads of people I didn't know or didn't like; just the three people in the world I actually loved, and who loved me back. I talked all night, answering questions about rehab and telling them all about my new friends. They listened intently, smiling and laughing and even crying as I told them all the stories. Eventually I finished, my throat sore from talking so much, and asked them what had been going on while I was away.

"Well, I met a guy…" Dallas started. I cut her off with a squeal and a huge bear hug. She laughed, hugging me back. Dallas hadn't had a boyfriend for almost three years, ever since her fiancé Brian left her for some blonde hoe. She hadn't been able to trust guys since, so as you can imagine I was pretty happy to find out that she had found a new guy. Maybe it would fizzle out, but at least it was a start.

"Who is he?" I asked her.

"His name is David and he's gorgeous! I met him at work yesterday. I was making a cocktail and I heard this really deep, sexy voice say 'I'll have one of those', and when I looked up I literally spilt the entire drink. But it was worth it because he helped me clean it up and our hands touched and he leant over next to me and he smelt so good! And then I said, all shaky, 'I'll make you one as soon as I've finished redoing this one', and he smirked and said 'I wasn't talking about the drink, but I'll have one of those too if you want' and I swear to God my heart my heart stopped beating." She gushed.

"Oh my God! He sounds amazing! Do you have any pictures?" I asked her hopefully. She shook her head, but then proceeded to give me a detailed description of every aspect of his perfect appearance. I smiled and nodded along with her, not really paying much attention, until she mentioned school.

"What did you just say?"

"I said, he's the new maths teacher at your school. Which, by the way, you will find to be very different when you go back." She said vaguely. I started to panic; what had happened?

"Dallas….what did you do?"

"Me and mom went into your school and had a little talk to the principal…turns out people have been noticing the bullying. And apparently everyone was quick to point fingers, and now, as long as you confirm that it was her, a girl named Selena Gomoz or something like that is being kicked out, and from now on anyone seen to be even looking at you in a hurtful way will be in serious trouble. This whole thing went too far, and it landed you in rehab. There is no way we are letting that happen again." She said firmly. I stared at her in horror. She frowned, looking confused.

"What is so bad about that? This will be good for you. You won't be bullied anymore." She said.

"Yeah, but now everyone is going to hate me. Especially Selena…" I realised, terror setting in. I had gone years thinking she hated me, but all it took was one civil conversation between the two of us and I couldn't stand the thought.

"So? She's been expelled; you're probably never going to see her again. She doesn't exactly live in the same neighbourhood as us. She made your life miserable for years, Demi. Why on earth would you care about her getting kicked out?"

"Because I-I'm just that type of person" I stopped myself from saying something I would regret, something along the lines of 'I like her'.

"Well, don't be. She's the reason you just spent the last nine months of your life in rehab, Demi." My mom said sternly. I sighed.

"It wasn't just her. You think if it was just one person I would have let it get to me so much? And even if she hadn't done anything, had never even looked at me, I would have ended up the same way. You can't punish her and no-one else, mom." I said pleadingly. She seemed to soften.

"Fine, if we all go in to talk to your principal again I'm sure we can figure something out. I guess it would be a little unfair to only punish one person." She conceded. Dallas didn't look happy about it, but one look from mom silenced any protests she may have had.

"Okay. Well, guys, I love you and all, but it's one o'clock in the morning and I need to sleep." I sighed. Mom turned to tell Maddie to go to bed too, but she was fast asleep on the sofa. I felt guilty; we hadn't even noticed she had fallen asleep.

"I'll take Maddie up. Night guys." I said, yawning as I reached down to pick up my sister. My mom gasped. I turned to look at her, worried. But I was glad to see she had a smile on her face.

"What's made you so happy?" I asked her, picking up my little sister.

"I can't see your spine anymore." She said happily. I realised that my top had ridden up to show my bare back. I loved the fact that simply seeing how much weight I had gained made my mother so happy.

"Thanks mom. I won't lie, I'm so tempted to try losing weight again now. But I won't, I promise. I'll try to stay strong, for you guys." I told them, before leaving the room and climbing the stairs to take my sister and go to bed.

Th next morning was a Sunday. I sighed, relieved that I didn't have to go to school, but concerned because it being Sunday meant that I would have to go to school tomorrow. While I was in rehab I had had the whole situation with my schooling explained to me. Since I was getting above-average grades before rehab, as long as I did some schoolwork on the computer, (that's what that was for), I could stay in the same grade. I would just have to be tutored to catch up with the rest of my classes. If I was having serious problems with any of the work, I would later be considered for holding back a year. That was the last thing I wanted; I had always counted on getting out of high school for good once I was eighteen. If I had to do an extra year, even though most of it would have been spent in rehab, I would die.

I spent hours showering and getting ready that morning. I hadn't been allowed any make-up in the rehab, so this would be the first time I could wear it for ages and I wanted to look good. I also didn't take any of my nicer clothes, so I wanted to pamper myself and dress up nice too, even though we were just spending the day indoors. I painted all of my nails and buffed and polished every nook and cranny. After I was finished I checked myself out in the mirror. I looked good. Twirling round, I winced as I noticed that my legs looked chunkier than before, but I knew I wasn't fat. I had been told that anorexia made me see things that weren't there. So I could be so skinny you could see my ribs, but all I would see is rolls and rolls of fat. So I shook off all the negative thoughts, just like my therapist had instructed, and took a deep breath.

When I walked into the kitchen Dallas and my mom grinned at me.

"You look beautiful, Demi." Sighed my mom. I smile din thanks. My clothes finally felt like they fit me, but I was instinctually trying to hold my jeans up inconspicuously. Dallas obviously noticed.

"Demi, sweetie, your clothes fit you now. You don't need to hold them up anymore." I winced when she said 'anymore'; obviously she had noticed beforehand that I did it.

"I know. It's just weird…it's going to take some getting used to." I sighed. She smiled sympathetically as she turned to open the fridge.

"Aw, shit! We're out of milk." She cried, looking over at her bowl of cornflakes disdainfully.

"You want me to go down to the store?" I offered. They both looked at me, shocked.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, you never know who you might run into…" mom said. I rolled my eyes.

"I have school tomorrow mom. Going to the store can't be any worse than that." I said.

"I suppose….well, here's twenty dollars. Get me a bottle of vodka while you're there. And then keep the change." She said. I smiled, kissing her on the cheek as I grabbed my jacket and shrugged it on. I considered walking, since it was a nice day, but if I did I was more likely to see someone I knew, so I hopped on my bike and set off. Once I got to the store I checked the parking lot to see if there were any cars I recognised. Obviously, I had been gone nine months, so some people probably had new cars. But it was worth a try, at least.

I went in and, of course, immediately ran into an old friend of my mom's. They weren't close anymore, but she was one of the few people who used to smile at me as I walked past. She looked at me and did a double take, before breaking out into a cautious, but real, smile.

"Demi Lovato? Is that you? Oh my God, you're back! Everyone's been worried about you! Where on earth were you?" she asked. Lindsey was a nice woman, but I knew she was just after some gossip.

"I just had to get away for a while, that's all." I said. She smiled knowingly.

"I understand. I hope everything is okay with you. And, let me tell you, you certainly got your figure back…you look better than you did before! A little curvier, but that is to be expected." She said in a hushed tone of voice. I was confused for a second, but then I got it.

"Oh no! I didn't have a baby!" I exclaimed, blushing. Lindsey went bright red and looked away, embarrassed.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I just assumed…you were gone for around nine months…" she said. I smiled.

"I know. I guess I can understand why you would have thought that. But no, I don't have a kid." I said honestly. She smiled.

"Well, that's good news. You're a smart girl, a child would have completely ruined your education." She said half-heartedly, before saying goodbye quickly and rushing off to catch up with someone. I rolled my eyes; people never changed.

I sped around the aisles, thankfully not running into anyone else I knew. I smiled at the shop assistant as she scanned the items, but she just glared. She didn't look very happy at all. I decided against asking her if she was okay. She didn't look like she was in the mood for talking. But, surprisingly, as I was about to leave, I saw her perk up, grinning at something across the store. I smiled slightly to myself, glad to see that the girl was happy. I picked up my bags and looked over to see who it was that had made her so happy. I gasped when I saw a gorgeous, dark-haired girl walk over, smiling, grab her and kiss her passionately. I stared in shock as they pulled apart, looking into each other's eyes lovingly.

"Hey Harper, baby." She said huskily. Selena had changed; she was taller, a little curvier and her boobs were a lot bigger. And, obviously, she had come out while I was gone. I had known she was gay, but no-one else. Obviously, that had changed, since she had just made out with a girl in the middle of a store. I didn't realised I was staring until the Harper girl scowled at me, raising her eyebrows in a 'you got a problem?' kind of way. Selena glanced over to see what she was looking at, and our eyes met. That was when I knew it. I understood why I hadn't wanted Selena to be expelled. I understood why I had dreamt of her almost every night I spent in rehab. And I understood why I couldn't take my eyes off the two of them while they made out. I was in love with Selena.

What the fuck is with me?

**Haha! Cliffy! Please review! I'll update faster... :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks so much for reading guys! I am so glad you like the story and I hope you continue to like it! If you have any stories of your own that you would like me to read and review, just let me know in a review and i will gladly do that for you, since you guys are so great to read this in teh first place! Thank you!**

Chapter 9

After a second or two they pulled away, and Selena glanced at me. I looked away quickly, blushing like crazy. I grabbed my bag and practically jogged out of the store. Just as I was turning the corner, though, I felt a hand on my arm. I turned, surprised, and yanked my arm out of the person's grip, ready to yell at them to leave me alone. But when I saw Selena stood there, looking shocked and confused and hurt, I just froze. I couldn't speak. She was just so…real. I had dreamt of her so many times since that kiss, but this was the first time since that we had been up close, and I couldn't help but stare at her face, trying to memorise every detail.

"Where have you been?" she asked scornfully. And just like that, the spell was broken. I blinked, then scowled at her. It was hard, but I knew she would just laugh at me if I tried anything else. The kiss had obviously meant nothing to her, else I had been gone long enough that she didn't care about me anymore.

"What's it to you?" I replied. I saw a flash of hurt in her eyes, although I don't know why, but it was soon replaced with anger.

"It's a lot to me! You've been gone for months! There were rumours that you were dead, that you were pregnant, that you had run away…and you just happened to disappear the day after you kissed me!" she exclaimed, frustrated. I scoffed.

"For your information, you kissed me. And none of those rumours are true." I said calmly, trying to hold back the tears threatening to ruin my carefully applied make-up.

"Well then where were you?" she asked me.

"Re-none of your business." I stopped myself, not wanting it spread around school that I went to rehab. I would rather they all thought I was pregnant. Not that I was ashamed of rehab, but because at least if they took the piss out of me for being a slut, I know it's not true. If they knew about rehab, they would take the piss out of something that really happened, and that actually changed my life. That I wouldn't be able to handle.

"It is my business!"

"Why? Because you're my friend? Because you care about me? Because you genuinely want to know where I've been, what happened to me? Or because you want something new to take the piss out of me for?" I asked her. She hesitated, long enough for me to know what her answer would be.

"I-I…"

"Forget it. I know what the answer is. What it always is. You don't care about me, you don't really give a shit where I've been, and you would never in a million years be my friend. You just want ammunition. It doesn't surprise me. Nothing surprises me anymore." I sighed, before turning to walk away. She stopped me.

"Wait! That wasn't what I was going to say…what I need to say." She said, all the anger gone from her face. She just looked sad, and kind of…resigned.

"What do you need to say then?"

"I need to say that I'm sorry. What I did to you…it was barbaric. I could have killed you. I realise that now. It's too late for me to undo it all, but I do want you to know that I'm sorry. I get it if you can't accept my apology, I wouldn't if I were you. But I wanted you to know that I am sorry. And that I hate myself, every second of every day, for what I did to you. And it's too late to stop anybody else, but I for one can guarantee to never say one more hurtful word to you. If you want, I can never say any word to you." She said, and I could tell from the look in her eyes that she meant it. I felt the anger fade away, and my tense muscles relaxed. I smiled softly at her.

"I guess I can accept your apology…but only because I'm better now. A lot better." I said. She looked me up and down, surprise and happiness on her face.

"Wow. You look…wow. I didn't even notice before, but you actually look like a human being." She said, sounding awestruck.

"Yeah. If I tell you something, will you promise to never repeat it?" I asked her. She nodded earnestly.

"I swear." She said.

"I was in rehab." I breathed, happy to get it out but worried that she would go back on her word. Her eyes widened, but she didn't take the piss or even laugh a little.

"I am so glad you did. You've never looked so good." She said, grinning. I smiled back, everything forgotten, just like that. All those years of torture…forgotten. I had no idea what I was thinking, but I knew that if I refused to accept her apology, refused to forget about it, that I would regret it all my life. Of course, there was a chance I would regret forgiving her. A big chance. But I managed to overlook that. She just made me feel so…good, when she was nice to me. She was the first person in years who had actually spoken to me civilly, and I guess that shouldn't have been enough to override the years she had made me miserable, but it was.

"Thanks. But apparently I'm not the only thing that's changed while I've been away…have you come out?" I asked her. She smiled, nodding. I saw her cheeks turn a little pink, but she looked down.

"Yeah. About a week after you disappeared, actually. I decided it wasn't worth hiding anymore and kissed Frankie in the middle of the cafeteria. At first it was a huge scandal, but after a while everyone got over it. I'm still as popular as ever." She sighed, not sounding as happy as she probably wanted to sound as she said the last bit.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"I guess…but I feel like I deserve to be treated like shit, after what I did to you. I think I was expecting them to turn on me, and when they didn't it made me realise how much they all looked up to me. It finally hit me how much I had been hurting you. I never realised before how many people actually bullied you. And it wasn't because they had reason to. It was because I did. They all hated you because I did. And I realised just how sick that is." She explained. I smiled, nodding in understanding.

"Well, we're past that now. And I'm glad you managed to come out. I wouldn't have the guts." I sighed. Her eyes widened.

"You mean…" she asked, looking strangely hopeful.

"Yeah, yeah I am. Anyway, who's your girlfriend?" I asked her, wanting to distract her from my revelation. Her eyes seemed to darken for a second, before she smiled.

"Oh, that's Chrissie. She's so amazing! I met her at this club I joined. It's a place for gay girls and boys who have just come out and want advice with things. It's so much fun! Anyway, I met this girl Cassie there and she was so nice, and we were such close friends for a while. Then one thing led to another and…we're dating." She said. I could see something in her eyes, some emotion that I couldn't quite discern, but I shrugged it off.

"Well I'm glad you're happy." I smiled at her.

"So am I." she sighed.

"Well…I guess I've got to go home." I said, getting ready to walk away. She smiled, waving goodbye gently. I waved back before turning and walking down the alley. When I got to the corner I turned back, just to make sure she had gone, and was surprised to see her stood there, exactly where she had been stood before I left, staring after me. I waved once more and she waved back. I felt a pang as I turned the corner and lost sight of her. But I knew that I would see her in school the next day. Ah, school. Actually, it wasn't looking quite so scary anymore…

**Please review :D xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks so much for reading and reviewing guys! Soo glad you like it! :D I know it seems like the demena relationship is going a little fast, but I promise there will be drama and quite a lot of it...so don't worry about it! And I have to thank **wizardsofwaverlyplaceofficial** and **ennessjai** for the ideas for the storyline... thanks guys! :)**

Chapter 10

When I went to school the next day, the fear was back. As I walked down the street, I could feel my stomach turn inside out. I had come early so there was no-one around, but I knew there would be soon and was dreading it. I just hoped that Selena hadn't had a change of heart or worse, been joking all along. I think I would die. I would certainly never be able to go back to the school again. Just as I was about to walk into the school building I heard someone talking behind me.

"Look, there's the stupid bitch that got Selena kicked out." A snotty-sounding girl with an annoying, nasally voice said from behind. I whirled around to see her talking to one of the guys who used to spit at me when I walked past.

"Shut up Tracy. Just leave her alone." He said to her, avoiding eye contact with me. She just scowled and rolled her eyes.

"I thought you were preggers. Where's the baby? Did you give it up? Probably best. What kind of child would want a slutty fat bitch for a mother." She said harshly, smirking at me. I was surprised by how little it affected me; for the first time in a long time, I was able to hear her call me fat and realised that it was just a random insult. She probably didn't even think I was fat.

"Stop it, Tracey! You don't even know her!" the guy, Joe, said.

"So? I've heard all the rumours. Besides, aren't you one of the people that messed with her and fucked her up anyway?" she asked me. He blushed, looking embarrassed, but then took a deep breath in and looked me in the eyes.

"Yeah, I was. And I'm really sorry. There were so many rumours, and I don't know which were true and which weren't, but all of them said that you were screwed up because of the bullying. I get it if you can't accept my apology, but I want you to know that I really am sorry, and I will never forgive myself for what I did to you." He said. The girl, Tracey, stood there staring at him, her mouth open. I smiled tightly. I forgave him, of course. I forgave Selena, how could I not forgive others? But I was tensed up because of Tracey., Her dislike for me was obvious, and I was worried that she might jump me if I let her.

"For fucks sake, are you serious?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I am." He told her. She rolled her eyes and turned to stalk away. He watched her go, and I could see in his eyes that he was debating going after her. Finally, he shrugged and turned back to me.

"Screw her." He said, smiling at me apologetically. I started laughing, and he joined in, looking relieved.

"Who is she anyway?" I asked him.

"New girl, moved here from Washington not long ago. After a week she hated your guts. I was dating her, but I think that's probably over now. Anyway, she was always trashing you, I mostly just ignored it, figuring you weren't coming back so it didn't matter, but saying things to your face? That was taking it too far. I don't know what I saw in her; she really is a bitch." He said. I smiled. We had started walking together, into the school.

"I really hate it when people judge others without really knowing them. Especially if they've never even met them. I mean, I'm not saying she would love me if we knew each other. But she has no right to treat me like trash if she has never even spoken to me. It's totally pathetic." I sighed. He nodded in agreement.

"I don't know why I ever did those things to you, you know. I think it was just an unwritten rule; everyone hated Demi Lovato, so everyone treated her like crap. I'm not going to lie and say I always felt sorry for you and wished I could stop treating you that way. In truth, I never even thought about how you felt. I don't think anyone did. But now I do." He said honestly. I smiled at him, nodding.

"I believe you. And don't worry, I'm better now. But I didn't disappear because I was pregnant. I disappeared because I went to rehab." I whispered, aware that there were more people about now, and they were staring. Joe didn't seem to care.

"Oh my God. Things were that bad?" he asked, shock and anger written all over his face.

"Yeah it was. I was anorexic…and I cut myself. A lot. It got to the point where my mom and my sister couldn't take it anymore, and they signed me up for a nine-month rehabilitation course."

"And it worked?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course. I mean, look at me. Do I look anorexic to you?" I asked him jokingly, raising my arms to show off my curvy body. He smiled.

"Nah, you look beautiful." He said, then blushed when he realised what he had said. I dropped my eyes, embarrassed too, but decided not to ruin our new-found friendship by letting things get awkward.

"I know." I said seriously. He looked at me, surprised, before grinning when he saw the smir on my face.

"You're funny, Lovato." He said happily.

"Why thank you, erm…"

"Jonas. Joe Jonas." He told me.

"I knew you were called Joe, just didn't remember your last name." I assured him. I didn't want him to think I hadn't even known his name. He grinned.

"I'm glad. So, where are we going?" he asked me.

"I have to go to reception to let them know that I'm here and get all my things sorted out. I'm still in the same year. I just have to have a lot of tutoring to make up for the time I've missed." I sighed, not looking forward to the tutoring at all.

"Who's tutoring you?" Joe asked. I shrugged.

"They said they would be in the reception when I got there this morning, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see. You don't have to come with me, by the way, if you don't want to. I feel bad." I said, smiling at him awkwardly. He shook his head.

"I'm fine. I like talking to you. And now I want to know who's tutoring you." He said. I smiled, then realised we were outside of reception. Taking a deep breath, I reached for the door handle and pulled it open. And stood there, right in front of me, was Selena Gomez. I heard Joe gasp.

"What you doing here, Sel?" he asked tersely. She smiled.

"I'm here because apparently I'm not expelled anymore." She smiled at her.

"How'd you pull that one?" he asked her, subtly moving around me to stand between us. I assumed that he thought we would start fighting.

"I didn't. She did." Selena said, pointing to me and grinning madly.

"Oh, yeah." I said weakly. Selena rolled her eyes and stepped forward to hug me tightly.

"Thanks so much! My parents were so angry, with me and with the school and everything. The only other school close to us where I could have studied what I want to study is a big, expensive private school. But anyway, I don't need to worry anymore, because this little lifesaver actually just saved my life!" she squealed, hugging me again. Joe just stared at us both, looking awestruck.

"No problem Sel. I couldn't just let them kick you out. You weren't the only one who did this to me; they couldn't have punished you for what almost everyone was doing. That just wouldn't be right." I explained. She just shook her head.

"Yeah but you could have just let them punish me. I treated you the worst, and don't try to deny it because I know I did. And it was my fault anyone else hated you in the first place. But all that is going to change now, and I'm going to make up for making you have to go to rehab by making you smart again!" she said, hugging me a third time. I was hardly even surprised this time, and Joe seemed to break out of his trance.

"Careful there, Selena, you might make Cassie jealous." He warned jokingly. She turned to him, smiling.

"I see you and Dems have made friends? I'm assuming you apologised…" she said pointedly. Joe shook his head feverishly.

"Yeah, of course." He replied.

"Good. Then we can all be friends. I have to warn you, Dems…a lot of people still hate you, and a lot of them want nothing more than to see you cry. But they will leave you alone sooner or later. I mean, they'll see you hanging around with me and you'll be popular!" she joked, poking me in the side. I squirmed and squealed a little. I had always been sensitive to things like that.

"Don't poke me!" I giggled. Selena just laughed, and her and Joe attacked me. I was being assaulted by my only two friends in this school, yet I had never felt happier in this building.

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	11. Chapter 11

**So sorry it's been so long guys, I've just been so busy lately and so stressed, but it has been so long I figured I really had to update soon, and I have a little free time now so…what the hell. I am so glad you like the story and thank you for the reviews, they mean a lot to me! Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 11

After school that day, Selena, Joe and I decided to go see a movie together. There was a new chick flick out that Selena and I were both desperate to see, and even though he acted like he didn't, I'm pretty sure Joe wanted to see it too. All day we had been receiving weird looks, small smiles and sometimes outright glares from different people in the school, but I found that if you have people by your side, it's a lot easier to get over it.

Joe drove us to the movie theatre, and Selena bought the popcorn. I was going to buy my own, but I had no money after spending the last nine months in rehab, and not being able to go to work. Mum had offered to give me some money, and I had declined since she had already paid for all my rehab costs, but now I kind of regretted it.

"So, you think this is going to be as good as it looks?" asked Selena, trying to make conversation and stop us from falling into an awkward silence.

"Hopefully. It should be, considering the good reviews it's had." I said. Joe scoffed.

"Yeah, but Twilight got a load of good reviews and it's a load of crap." He piped up. Selena and I gasped simultaneously.

"You did not just say that." Selena said in a threatening voice. I knew she was joking, but Joe looked frightened, so I decided to play along.

"How could you?" I said in a mock-horrified voice.

"Erm…well, that's just my opinion…I guess it's okay…" he stuttered. Selena continued to glare at him murderously, but I couldn't hold back the laughter.

"You fell for it! Ha!" I blurted, earning a loud 'shh' from the woman in front of us. Selena burst out laughing at that, and the woman turned around to glare at us. All three of us managed to compose ourselves, but only until she turned around again and we couldn't hold back the giggles. Joe was crying he was laughing so hard. Eventually the woman huffed and got up to move seats.

"What a cow. The movie hasn't even started yet." Selena said after we had all calmed down a little.

"She probably thought we would be like that all the way through. Old people have no trust in teenagers these days." Joe said. I laughed.

"She wasn't even that old Joe…she was, like, thirty." I laughed.

"It's dark in here. She was probably, like, fifty but we couldn't see." Selena joked. I knew it was mean, but it wasn't as if the woman would find out we were laughing about her so I laughed along. It was funny, after all.

"Yeah, and I bet she was wearing tons of make-up." Joe added.

"Probably to hide the warts. I wonder where she parks her broomstick…" Selena laughed. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"I dunno, but I'll bet she had a cat stuffed up that skirt…unless she's just really fat." Joe finished, setting them both off in another fit of giggles. That did it for me. I had been the subject of this crap for so many years, I couldn't bear to see them do it again, even to someone else. I stood up and walked out of the theatre. I heard them stop laughing and then I heard muffle voices and footsteps as one or both of them followed me out.

"Demi wait! What's wrong?" Joe called after me. Selena wasn't far behind him, and she looked confused.

"I couldn't take it anymore. You guys did that to me for so long…I couldn't bear to watch you do it to someone else. Some random woman you don't even know, who did nothing to you whatsoever." I blurted, unable to contain my anger.

"We were just messing. We didn't mean those things. Really." Said Selena softly, looking at me earnestly. I almost believed her.

"Well, that's not the point. If she had heard you saying those things, how would she know if you meant them or not? Don't you think she would be hurt?" I asked her, lowering my voice since we had already attracted enough attention.

"I guess…" she said guiltily, looking at the ground.

"You're right Demi. We're sorry." Joe cut in, looking at me with an honest expression on his face. It hurt to see that he didn't look very guilty, but I told myself he was probably just good at hiding his emotions.

"Okay. Shall we go back inside then?" asked Joe. I nodded, sighing.

"I'm sorry guys. We've probably missed the start of the movie." I said, not feeling very sorry at all. It had been their fault I had run out, after all.

"No problem. Let's just go in now so we don't miss too much." And just like that, everything was fine again. I had seen that happen so many times, yet still found it strange that friends could have fights and make up so quickly.

It turned out that we hadn't missed that much of the movie after all, and we sat in silence and watched the whole thing. It was okay, but not nearly as good as it looked in the adverts. But we left smiling, arms linked, and piled into Joe's car to go home. He dropped me off first, and I hugged each of them goodbye before I went. I couldn't quite believe it. I felt like I was in a dream, and any second now I was going to wake up, and they would hate me again, and I would be miserable. But as I walked into the house and heard the loud sobbing noise coming from the lounge, I knew it wasn't a dream. I would never dream of my sister sounding so sad, so distraught. I dumped my bag on the ground and ran in, to see Dallas curled up in a ball on the couch, my mom and Maddie sat on either side of her, rubbing her back and shoulder comfortingly.

"I-I-I think I m-might have l-loved him, mom. He w-was the best th-thing I ever had. And n-n-now he's gone!" she cried desperately through her tears. I stood there, frozen for a moment, shocked to see my sister, always the strong, brave one, looking so completely destroyed. I soon snapped out of it, though, and ran over to wrap my arms around her.

"What's happened? What's wrong Dallas?" I asked her, almost in tears myself.

"David…he-he…" she started, but choked on her words. I saw red.

"What did he do to you? The bastard, I'm going to hunt him down and-"

"Demi! Shut up!" my mom shouted at me, for the first time in a long time she seemed really truly mad at me, and at the same time looked like she could just break down and cry right alongside her eldest daughter.

"He-he didn't…he's dead." She wailed, a fresh wave of tears escaping her eyes as she curled into an even tighter ball. I froze. I couldn't believe it.

"I-I…what happened?" I asked gently.

"There was a car accident. He died on impact. They think he was drunk-driving, but they aren't sure. His friend, Gavin, is in the ICU. They say he has a good chance of making it, but-"

"David is dead!" Dallas shouted again, and I had never seen her look so completely heartbroken, so desolate. I felt the tears start to fall, and I had never even me the guy. But my sister had had so many bad experiences with men, and now she had finally found one she could love…he was dead.

"I am so sorry, Dallas. So sorry." I whispered. Her head whipped up, and she glared at me angrily.

"How can you be sorry? You never even met him! You were too busy in fucking rehab, because you're fucked up in the head. Don't even try to tell me you're _sorry, _because you aren't sorry, and I am not in the mood to be fucking lied to." She hissed. I stepped backwards, reeling from the shock of what she had said. I knew she was upset, but…wow. I had never seen her like this. Ever. I wanted to break down, to go to my room and cry and cry until I couldn't cry any more. One of the few people who had always loved me-I couldn't believe she had said that. But I wasn't the one who had just lost the love of my life. So I took a deep breath, shook my head, and wrapped my arms around her.

"You're right. I never met him. And I regret that. I wish so much that I had met him. And you're right, I can't be sorry that he's dead, not really, since I never knew the guy. But I can be sorry for the pain this is causing you. I know you loved him, and I hate seeing you like this. I am so sorry that you're hurting this much. And I wish I could have known him, so that I could relate a little more, be more sorry about his death. But I swear to you, I will never abandon you. No matter what happens, you will always have me. I'm not going back to rehab. Eventually, things will get better. Remember that." I said in her ear. At first she tried to pull away, but I felt her relax into my embrace after a few moments and by the end of my speech she was clinging to me, crying her eyes out on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said. I know you're sorry, and I know you're here for me. And you're not fucked up in the head. I love you. But you were wrong about one thing. I will never move on. Things will never get better. I loved him, Demi. I was going to marry him. You know the worst thing? The worst thing was that he proposed last week. He proposed, and I said I was going to think about it. I was going to tell him yes tomorrow. Now he's never going to know I was going to marry him." She wailed, crying even harder, if that was even possible. I was crying hard too by now.

"I am so sorry, Dallas. But trust me, wherever he is right now, he knows you loved him. And if the rumours are true, and our loved ones do watch over us once they pass away, he is watching you right now, and listening to everything you say. He knows you were going to say yes, Dallas. And he will always be here with you. Okay?" I said to her. She looked at me, nodding, and smiled slightly. I knew it was going to take a whole lot more than a sad movie and three tubs of Ben & Jerry's, but she was going to move on eventually, just like she did with all those other guys. And hopefully she would one day meet someone new, someone she could love just as much, maybe more.

"Thanks Demi. I love you." She whispered in my ear.

**Please review! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! Sorry about the wait! :D I'm going on holiday on Saturday, and I wont have internet connection most of the time, so for the next six weeks I will write loads but probably only update once or twice, if at all, so I apologise, but I just wanted to update now so that the wait wouldn't be quite so long! Thanks for sticking with the story and I'm glad you all like it! :D**

Chapter 12

That night I didn't sleep a wink. I got into bed with Dallas, hoping my presence would help her sleep, but she just tossed and turned, wailing into her pillow. After about three hours she got up and went into the kitchen. I didn't follow her, but I stayed awake just in case she tried to do something stupid. I knew what it was like to be in a dark place, and feel like there's no getting out of there. I had lived it for nine years.

In the morning mom came in to sit with her for a while so I could shower and get dressed for school. I didn't want to go to school, for obvious reasons, but mom insisted that Dallas would only feel worse if she messed up my life. So I packed my bag, said a quick goodbye to them all and left. Joe had offered to give me a lift to school the day before, but I declined since it would mean him going out of his way. Things were already weird enough. I mean, I loved it, but it seemed a bit strange that after everything that had happened, Selena, Joe and I were suddenly so close after just one day. Well, I understood why Selena and I were so close…but I never in a million years would have expected Joe Jonas to even give me the time of day, let alone apologise for everything and act like we've been friends forever.

But halfway down the road, I heard a car horn go off and a bright blue Mercedes pulled up beside me. I laughed as the window rolled down slowly, to reveal a very cool-looking Joe in a pair of hot pink sunglasses.

"Wow, what a coincidence, meeting you here. You want a ride, by any chance?" he asked me, grinning cheekily. I laughed, nodding at him thankfully, and hopped into the car, slamming the door shut a bit too hard. He gasped.

"Careful of my baby!" he cried, looking genuinely worried. I laughed, shaking my head at his typical guy behaviour.

Whatever. Anyway, I told you not to bother giving me a lift." I said. He blushed a little, and I wondered why but said nothing.

"Well, I figured it was the nice thing to do…and you're more interesting than listening to my radio. It's jammed on this chat show station, so unless I want to sit here in silence I have to listen to angry women whining about their shitty lives." He shrugged. I laughed, reaching to turn on the radio.

"Let's listen!" I gasped, faking excitement. He slapped my hand away and glared at me.

"Don't you dare." He hissed. I couldn't decide whether he was really angry or not, so I left it alone. We drove to school in a comfortable silence, laughing when we passed Selena, who had had to trek it from the opposite side of town, and she started mouthing naughty words at us.

"I can't believe you gave her a lift and not me! We've been friends for years!" Selena cried. I smiled, wrapping my arms around Joe from behind in a hug.

"It's because he loves me more. Right Joe?" I laughed. He laughed too and nodded.

"Well that's so not fair. You've been friends with me for much longer…" she huffed, folding her arms and stomping away angrily. We followed her, calling her name between fits of giggles. Once again, everyone was staring at us. But I was used to being stared at, so I didn't let it phase me.

"Don't be jealous. Green isn't a good colour on you." I laughed. She turned around, grinning and struck a pose.

"Every colour is a good colour on me, dah-ling!" she said, twirling dramatically. I laughed, nodding without realising it.

"Oh you're right about that." I said flirtatiously, not realising how it sounded until Joe sent me a weird look. I laughed, shaking my head to cover up my slip. I mean, I wasn't ashamed to be gay. But I had just gotten back to school, and things were already weird enough without adding another huge revelation into the mix. So I just laughed and made out like it was a joke.

The day went so fast-yet not fast enough. All I could think about was getting back to Dallas. I was racked with guilt about having so much fun that morning when Dallas was in so much pain. As soon as the bell rang I was out the door, but unfortunately Selena caught up with me.

"Demi, what's up? You've been acting strange all day." She said. I shrugged.

"Nothing. I guess I'm just tired." I said nonchalantly.

"Don't even try it. Seriously, what's wrong?" she asked me again. And that's when everything came spilling out. I told her every last detail, and she just stood there and listened to me. When I was finished she hugged me and said she was sorry, for me and for my sister.

"Why are you sorry for me?" I asked her, wiping the tears away.

"Because you have finally managed to sort your life out, and then your sister's life gets all fucked up." She said bluntly. I smiled.

"Well, thanks, I guess. But I really need to leave now. My sister needs me." I smiled, hugging her quickly before walking away from her. It felt so weird to hug her; I mean, even though we had kissed, it still felt strange to be hugging the person that hurt me so much for all those years.

When I got home the house was eerily silent. I went in the lounge and it was empty. In fact, the whole house was empty except for Dallas's room. I went in to see her sleeping soundly on her bed, with a note on her desk.

**Hey Demi. Dallas finally fell asleep, so I took Maddie out for a while. She's getting very worried and I didn't want her to get to upset and make Dallas feel worse. I might leave her with Janice for the night. She's too young for all this. Keep an eye on your sister for me? – Mom xox**

I smiled, relieved that Maddie was getting away for the night. A part of me wished that I could too, but I knew it would just drive me insane. I had to be here for my sister, no matter what. I couldn't be selfish.

"Demi? Is that you?" she murmured. I looked over, to see her eyes fluttering open. She pulled herself into a sitting position and smiled gently.

"Hey Dallas. How are you feeling?" I asked her. She shrugged. Her eyes were puffy and red, and I had a feeling they were going to be like that for a long time.

"A little better. I really needed to get some sleep. But…I dreamt about him, Demi. And it was such a good dream. And now, waking up and realising that I'll never have that…" she stopped talking as the tears spilled over. I knew from experience how hard it was to talk while you're crying, so I just went over and hugged her again, letting her cry it out on my shoulder until she was okay to talk again.

"What was the dream about, Dallas?" I asked her slowly and softly. I expected her to burst into tears again, but she didn't.

"David and I…we were married, and we have two kids. They were called Erica and Frankie. We were all at a restaurant, and we were all so happy…and then I woke up, and remembered that David was dead, and that I would never be able to do those things with him. He will never even know I was going to marry him." She wailed. I rubbed her back soothingly.

"He knows. Remember what I said?" I whispered softly. She nodded, and together we sat there in silence, thinking about the life she could have had if fate hadn't intervened so horribly. And, after a little while, I was crying with her. It seemed like now that my suffering was over, Dallas had to suffer to make things even. Sometimes I find it so difficult to keep believing in God, especially when things like this happen. But at the same time, if I stop believing in him, who am I going to pray to?

**Please review! :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay guys, I am really really really sorry about the long long long wait! I feel terrible, but I think you'll like this chapter! **

**I briefly considered stopping this, and then i wanted to ask someone else to finish it, but then I guess I just got inspired and decided to try continuing it. So here you go.**

** I can't garuantee there will be many more chapters, and you might have to wait a while again, but if you keep reviewing and stuff I will continue!**

**Hope you like the chapter, thanks for reading the story and again, sorry about the wait! :D**

Chapter 13

David's funeral was two weeks after he died. I dressed in a pair of black trousers and a white shirt, with a black blazer over the top. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Dallas. She was wearing a white knee-length dress that hugged her curves, and a black blazer similar to my own on top. We all agreed to wear white and black, black for mourning and white to symbolise love and purity. She smiled back at me and linked our arms. I could feel her shaking as we walked out to the car, mom and Maddie not far behind us. The drive was short, and we sat in silence. Dallas held onto my arm the whole way, squeezing as if her life depended on it. None of us were wearing make-up, because we knew we would just cry it all off.

Selena and Joe had wished me the best. They said he was really nice, and a great teacher. I was kinda glad he hadn't worked at the school for long, though, since it meant there wasn't much chance of there being anyone I know at the funeral. When I told Dallas I had some friends, she had wanted me to invite them. But I had a feeling her and mom wouldn't be too happy to find out that I was pretty much best friends with two of the people who drove me to the brink of death, so I said no.

The funeral dragged on longer than I felt comfortable with, and by the time she was going up for her speech, Dallas was shaking and crying far too much. So I said I would make it for her. She smiled at me thankfully before bursting into a fresh round of tears.

"Erm, hi everyone. I'm Demi, Dallas's sister. She can't really make a speech right now, so I offered to make it for her. I mean, I know I never met him. But from what I've heard, he was an amazing man. Everyone who he taught in school said he was a great teacher, and the entire student population participated in a five minute silence in respect for him. And, of course, my sister loved him, so he had to have been a great guy. I wish I had had the opportunity to meet him. I really do, but I still mourn his death. I find it unfair, and cruel. My sister finally found a man who was worth her time, and he dies. But I believe that God has a reason for everything. And one day, hopefully in a long, long time, Dallas will find him again. And I hope she will move on, and fall in love again. But she will never forget him. And neither will anyone that knew him." I concluded, smiling softly and stepping off the podium. I could hear muffled sobs coming from different places all over the church.

There was a small party after the funeral, but Dallas said she couldn't face it. Apparently his family didn't like her much anyway, and she wasn't in the mood to deal with them. So we went straight home. After a couple of hours, Dallas fell asleep. I decided I had to get out of there, so I changed into some baggy sweats and a black tank top and left.

I went for a walk, not really heading for anywhere, but when I arrived outside the apartment building Selena had kissed me in that day, I knew that subconsciously I had been planning to come here all along.

I knew that he wasn't supposed to tell me, but I found myself asking the guy at the front desk which apartment the Gomez's lived in. He looked at me blankly, and then groaned. He typed something onto his computer and said lazily;

"34E, on the fourth floor."

I smiled gratefully and ran off, up the stairs. When I got to what I thought was the right door, I braced myself to knock. Then I heard someone shouting, and another person shout back. I would have known that voice anywhere. It was Selena.

"She's my friend! Don't talk about her like that!" she said. The other voice scoffed.

"Come on, Sel. You hate her. She almost got you expelled."

"Yeah, because I almost killed her! And then she was nice enough to get me un-expelled!" Selena shouted. I knew they were talking about me, and I was intrigued.

"She was just looking for attention, Selena. She must be a pretty good actress to get you to believe her, but seriously, there was nothing wrong with her! She's probably just crazy!"

"No, you're crazy if you think anything you are saying is even the slightest bit intelligent."

"You know I'm right, Selena. Don't be stupid."

"You're the one who's being stupid. You don't even know her!"

"Neither do you!"

"I know her a whole lot better than you do. And I know she deserves more respect than you're giving her. Hell, I deserve more respect than you're giving her, and that's saying something since I don't deserve a lot. Not after what I did to her."

"I'm sorry, Sel. I'm sorry that she's managed to fool you like this. But I'm telling you this because I love you; she's a lying, fucked up bitch, okay? You owe her nothing."

"No, I owe her everything. You're the fucked up bitch. I don't know what I ever saw in you, but you're not the girl I fell in love with."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'm breaking up with you. Now get out of here!" Selena yelled. I panicked, not wanting either of them to know I had been listening. So I ran up the next flight of stairs and hoped she hadn't seen me. Luckily I heard a couple more sentences before Cassie opened the door, stomped out, and slammed it behind her. Actually, she slammed it so hard that it bounced out of the frame and opened again. Selena walked over slowly, tears streaming down her face, and stared after her girlfriend-or ex-girlfriend- as she ran away. Then she sighed, wiped her eyes, and shut the door.

I couldn't help but feel like the people I hadn't met before were turning out to hate me more than those I had. Maybe there was a reason for that. Maybe people hated me because they didn't know me. All they knew were the rumours. And now that Selena and Joe know me, they don't hate me. I spent a long time thinking about that, before I realised that I was still crouched at the bottom of a set of stairs in a run-down apartment building in the Buggies. I had a feeling that Selena probably didn't want to see me right then, so I left quietly.

I started walking home, worry eating at me. I wasn't sure if I did the right thing. Should I have knocked on the door? Checked on Selena? Eventually I settled on texting her.

_**Hey Sel. Funeral was okay, Dallas couldn't speak so I did her speech. Missed you, wish you could have been there. Are you okay? **_

I re-read it a few times to make sure it didn't give away the fact that I had been listening, and sent it. I got a reply almost immediately.

_**I'm sure you rocked the speech. Wish I could have been there for you, although I hate funerals. I'm okay, just kinda had a fight with Cassie. **_

_**OMG, are you okay? What about? **_

_**About you, actually. She was being a bitch, and it was pissing me off. She never even met you. It turned into this all-out screaming match, and then I broke up with her. **_

_**I'm so sorry. I feel terrible; this is my entire fault…**_

_**No, it's not. Don't blame yourself. This is on her. She's changed since I met her. I think…never mind. See you later. **_

_**You want me to come to yours? **_

_**No. I just wanna be alone. See you soon, though. xx**_

_**Okay. See you. xx**_

I was momentarily shocked at the use of kisses, but then again, friends use kisses all the time. Right?

…

On the way home I was surprised by the sound of a horn honking. I jumped, whirling around. Then I smiled when I recognised Joe's car. He pulled over and I got in straight away.

"God, I need someone to talk to." I breathed, leaning back against the seat and closing my eyes.

"What's up?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"Selena broke up with Cassie." I told him.

"Really? Why?" he asked, not sounding too surprised.

"Over me. Apparently Cassie was being a bitch about me, and Selena broke up with her over it. Does that make it my fault?" I asked, looking him in the eyes to see if he was telling the truth or not when he answered me.

"No! Of course not! It's Cassie's fault! You had nothing to do with this." He said, and I could tell from the honesty in his eyes that he honestly meant what he was saying.

"Thanks. That makes me feel better. I still feel guilty though." I admitted. He chuckled, starting the car.

"Of course you do. You're you. Do you think she wants me to pick her up? We could do some stuff together?" he asked, but I shook my head.

"She wants some alone time." I said. He nodded understandingly, and then smiled at me.

"Looks like it's just you and me." He said, and I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he sounded overly excited about that. I just shrugged it off.

We went to the movies and took the piss out of the bad acting in the latest chick-flic. Then we went to see a horror movie, since there was nothing else to do, and got kicked out halfway through for making too much noise and throwing popcorn at the screen. I'll admit, we did get a little bit carried away, but it was so much fun.

I noticed a few girls looking at us enviously as we walked down the street, obviously assuming we were on a date. And honestly I can't blame them. Joe is pretty good looking, and if I was straight I'm pretty sure I would be in love with him by now. But I just see him as a friend. I have a bad feeling he doesn't feel the same way, though, judging by the way I kept catching him staring at me and our hands kept brushing, like he was trying to hold hands. Eventually I found myself wrapping my arms around myself, pretending to be cold, to avoid awkwardness. I think he knew what I was doing, though, since he looked a little hurt.

We didn't get back to my place until it was starting to get dark. I considered inviting him in for dinner, but I knew my mom and Dallas would assume I liked him, since I haven't told them I'm gay yet, and besides, Dallas and mom were both too stressed out at the moment to deal with a guest. So I kissed him on the cheek, which was probably a stupid thing to do if he does like me, but friends can kiss friends on the cheek, right?

"See you in school tomorrow." I said, smiling. The school had been closed yesterday and today in respect for David, but was opening again tomorrow. Wednesdays are my least favourite day, but I found myself oddly looking forward to going back, even after just a couple days off. I guess I just crave the normalcy of school, and any disruptions to my schedule kind of worry me a little.

"Bye Demi. I had fun today. We should hang out more often." He said softly. I smiled, confused.

"We hang out all the time." I replied, jumping out of the car.

"No, I mean just us. Without Selena." He said. I felt my face flush and I smiled.

"Erm, well…maybe." I stammered, flustered. I think he got the wrong idea from that, because he smiled knowingly and shut the door slowly.

"See you." He said, before starting the car and driving off, grinning. I sighed. I had a feeling things were about to get a lot more complicated; and I could only hope that my newfound friendships would survive.

**Please review! :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! I'm sorry it's been quite a long wait, but here it is!**

**Sorry about the shortness...I just found the perfect ending for it, and I couldn't write any more. I have a severe case of writer's block for this story right now, but I will continue it because I couldn't live with myself if I gave up on it. **

**Hope you like the chapter! Thank you for reading! :D**

Chapter 14

I woke to the sound of one of my favourite songs blaring out from my phone. For a moment I was confused; after all the time in rehab, I still wasn't used to having my phone again. But then I saw my phone lit up, and I sat up and grabbed it. I saw Selena's name on the caller ID and smiled, answering.

"Hello?" I said sleepily.

"Hey Demi. Sorry about yesterday, I was just upset. I really didn't think Cassie was like that, you know? It just hurt to see her like that." She sighed.

"I understand. Don't feel bad, I don't mind at all." I said. I could hear the relief in her voice.

"Good. So, erm…you wanna hang out today? We could ask Joe to come along if you'd like…" she offered.

"No! I mean, I like Joe, but I think…I think he likes me a bit too much, if you get me…" I sighed. She chuckled.

"And you've only just figured this out? Demi, Joe has liked you since forever. That's one of the reasons he bullied you. He didn't want people to suspect that he liked you. And since you guys became friends, well…the guy is in love with you, Demi." She said. I winced.

"That's what I was afraid of. Sel, I really don't feel the same way. I mean, I'm sure I would if I…erm…if I wasn't gay." I muttered. She laughed.

"Don't worry about it, if you tell him that he'll get over it." She said.

"Yeah, but what if he gets angry? I really don't wanna ruin our friendship." I sighed.

"And you don't think him being in love with you won't ruin your friendship?" she asked, and I knew she had a point. I sighed.

"I guess I'll have to tell him next time I see him. But could we just…can we hang out just the two of us?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll meet you at the park in ten, okay?"

"Yeah, see you there." I replied, before hanging up the phone and throwing myself back down on the bed, my scream of frustration muffled by the pillows. Then I realised what Selena had said; we were meeting at the park in ten minutes. Cursing my stupidity, I dashed into the shower, washed and dressed in record time, and I was out of the house seven minutes after I hung up the phone. I knew that if I ran to the park I could make it.

When I got there, two minutes late, Selena was sat on a bench looking like she'd been there a while. I sighed, shaking my head as I approached her.

"You've been here all morning, haven't you?" I asked her. She looked at me and nodded, tears in her eyes.

"My parents were fighting…I had to get out of there." She sighed. I placed a comforting arm around her shoulder and she leant into me.

"You're having a pretty shitty couple of days, aren't you?" she laughed dryly.

"I have a pretty shitty life. I'm probably the only person in the world who prefers to be in school than at home. Things used to be better; I had my iPod to drown out the sounds of their shouting and shit, but they took that and my laptop off me when I got expelled…" she sighed. I felt guilty.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I should-"

"Don't you dare feel bad, Demetria Devonne Lovato. This was my fault, not yours, and there is nothing you can do about it." She said sternly, turning around to look me in the eyes. I smiled sadly.

"I guess….I still feel guilty though. If I hadn't told my mom in the first place, you never would have been kicked out."

"Yeah, and if I hadn't made your life hell for years, you would have had nothing to tell your mom. You did nothing wrong, Demi. Don't blame yourself, baby." She murmured, burying her head in my shoulder. I smiled softly to myself; I could get used to her calling me baby.

"Erm, Selena…do you think you're going to get back together with Cassie?" I asked her softly. She shook her head.

"Cassie is known for holding grudges for years; she won't want me back anyway. Besides, there's someone else." She admitted. I felt my heart stop beating for a second. There was someone else? I don't know why, but this revelation crushed me. Okay, maybe I do know why. I'm still in love with Selena. Nine months in rehab hasn't changed that.

"Wh-who?" I stammered. She chuckled a little, although I don't know why. I hoped she didn't pick up on the disappointment in my voice.

"Well, she's beautiful. Like, really beautiful. She's got a gorgeous body, the kind of body you just want to touch, and hold. And she has gorgeous brown hair, and her eyes are a beautiful dark brown. She used to be really, really skinny and it wasn't attractive, even though I still liked her, but now she's curvy and she's just perfect. She's had a shitty life, especially at school, and a lot of that was my fault, but its okay now. Everything is okay. She's had her ups and downs, and recently she thought everything was better, but then life threw her another curve ball in the form of death. But she got through it, and now she's a better person because of it. She has a loud, slightly obnoxious laugh and her smile is infectious. I never used to see her smile, but now I see it all the time. She's beautiful in every way, and I never used to acknowledge that. I hid my feelings with cruel words and tasteless jokes, and I will always regret that. But she seems to have forgiven me, and although I have no idea why I am willing to accept that and be grateful. I just hope she maybe, possibly feels the same way. Because I think I'm in love with her." She explained. Her voice softened towards the end until she was whispering that last part, but I heard it nonetheless. For a moment or two I was paralysed. I could barely think. Then I saw her finally look me in the eyes, and I grinned. I grinned that smile she thought was 'infectious' and then I laughed my 'loud, slightly obnoxious' laugh. And then I kissed her.

This was so much better than the first time we kissed. The first time, she surprised me. I had no idea she liked me, and we were both confused about everything. Nothing made sense to either of us at that point. But this time, we both knew exactly how we felt. We both liked each other, a lot. I think we might have been in love. And we both wanted this. We both desperately wanted, needed each other. So as our lips melded together and our hands wrapped around each other's bodies, we were both happy as we had ever been. Well, I was anyway. And from the loud moan Selena emitted when we finally broke apart for air, I figured she was too.

"Wow. That was…wow." She puffed, trying to catch her breath. I laughed, struggling for breath a little myself.

"Is 'wow' good?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Wow is amazing. Wow is absolutely perfect. I think I'm in love with you; I have been for a while. And my break-up with Cassie was inevitable. I mean, I wish it didn't have to be so messy, but I think I would have had to break up with her eventually. From that first time I saw you, in the store, I think I knew it. You'd think that my feelings would go away while you were gone, but they just got stronger." She admitted. I was speechless.

"I...erm…" I choked out. She looked hurt for a second, before her features settled into a look of disappointment and resignation.

"I guess if you don't feel the same way, that's fine. I mean, I didn't expect you to, not after-" I cut her off with yet another searing kiss, which she returned instantly. After a couple seconds, I pulled away again.

"Of course I feel the same way, stupid. I was just shocked…I love you too, Selena. A lot." I sighed. She grinned, kissing me for a third time.

When we finally pulled apart again she got to her feet, grabbing my hand and pulling me up with her. Then she slid her arm around my waist, and I did the same, and we started walking around the lake. It was really warm, the sun blazing, and combined with the heat I felt being so close to Selena, it was unbearable. I pulled away from her for a moment to shrug off my jean jacket, sighing in relief at the coolness. Selena chuckled, and then looked around.

"Come on, this is boring. I mean, long leisurely walks look so romantic in the movies, but honestly? I think I'd rather be somewhere else." She explained. I nodded in agreement, then grinned.

"Well…our next door neighbours are on a long vacation in the Bahamas at the moment…and they have a pool in their backyard." I said, smiling. She looked thoughtful for a moment, but she shook her head.

"I can't…I mean, it feels so rude. Using someone else's pool." She sighed. I laughed.

"Come on, it'll be fun. Besides, I've been feeding their cats. They owe me." I shrugged. She hesitated for a second, and then nodded. I beamed at her, grabbing her hand and pulling her along, back out of the park and down the road. She laughed loudly as she stumbled along behind me, and I felt my heart skip a beat. Her laugh was perfect; not roaring and loud, but not squeaky either. And, most importantly, it was the first time I had heard her laugh like that. Properly. Like she meant it. Although it certainly wouldn't be the last.

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	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for the reviews for last chapter, guys! I know this update is pretty soon but SOMEONE has been bugging me to update, so here it is! **

**Hope you like it! Not many chapters left after this. *sob sob***

Chapter 15

After our swimming session, we snuck into my house and up the stairs to my bedroom to dry off and change. We had swum in our underwear, and maybe had a couple of heated make-out sessions in the pool…nothing more though. We have some dignity…

I let Selena borrow a hoody since she was cold and then we sat on my bed together in silence. After a while we started talking about things, beginning with school and eventually talking about the two things we wanted to avoid; Joe and Cassie.

"Well, I know I liked her. A lot. She was my first girlfriend, and I don't think I can ever forget her. But she wasn't the first girl I fell in love with. I don't know if I ever even was in love with her, or if I just told myself I was. But I do know that whatever my feelings were for her, my feelings for you are stronger." She said honestly. I smiled.

"I know it hurts you, how your relationship ended. I think you should go talk to her, try to figure things out. At the very least you guys should be friends." I said. She grimaced.

"I'm sorry, but unless she apologises for the things she said about you…I can't be around her. I did that to you for so long, I can't watch someone else do it."

"Well, I still feel bad…she really likes you, Sel. That much is obvious. I hate to see other people hurting because of me." I sighed.

"What about Joe?" she asked me as I lay back, resting my head on her stomach. I breathed in her fresh, flowery scent as I listened to the sound of her heart beating.

"I don't know, what about Joe?" I asked, looking up at her confusedly.

"Can't you tell? I think he likes you, Demi. As in, likes you likes you." She said. My breath hitched; I had had a feeling about it, but hearing her say it really drove it home. I shuddered.

"Joe and I are just friends. If he has feelings for me, I feel bad but it's not like I've been leading him on. I've never done anything to make him think I might like him back."

"Really? So how come he called me up last night and told him you kissed him on the cheek and, I quote, 'made me fall even more in love that I was before'?" she asked me pointedly. I froze; I knew that kiss was bad idea.

"It was just a kiss on the cheek. Friends can kiss friends on the cheek! Sheesh! Why does her have to like me? Why can't he like a normal, average, non-crazy, straight girl! Why does he have to like me?" I groaned. She chuckled, running her fingers through my hair.

"I could think of a few reasons. The main one being that you're perfect, Demi. Everything you do, everything you say…it's all perfect. You make people fall in love with you without even trying." She sighed. I smiled, turning my body so I could look her in the eyes.

"You're perfect too, you know."

"I'm not. Look at what I did to you."

"Are you ever going to let that go?"

"Nope." I suppressed a frustrated groan.

"Stop holding this against yourself, Selena! It wasn't just you, and you know what? The thought of you, and the thought of seeing you again, kissing you again, that's what got me through rehab. I mean, it helped that I had such amazing friends there, but it was mostly you!" I hissed, exasperated. My voice got louder with each word until I was practically shouting at her. She looked at me, eyes wide, for a second, before leaning forward and kissing me. I felt my hands move to her waist of their own accord and her own hands slid to the hem of my shirt. I knew what she wanted, and didn't hesitate to hold my arms above my head and allow her to take off my shirt.

"What are you shouting about-whoa!" my bedroom door flew open and Dallas burst in, her worried expression changing to one of embarrassment, then confusion, and finally anger as she took in the scene before her. I pulled away from Selena, holding my shirt to cover my body, and smiled sheepishly.

"Hey Dallas. This is Selena. My girlfriend. Selena, this is my sister Dallas."

"Selena? As in the bitch who made your life hell and got you sent to rehab?" she asked, voice low and venomous. Selena winced, and even I was shocked at the harshness of her words. Then again, I couldn't expect Dallas to be in a forgiving mood right then.

"Erm…yeah. But it's sorted now…I love her, Dallas. I know what she did, and in no way am I saying its okay, but she's sorry, and she regrets everything. And, I don't know…I guess you can't help who you fall in love with." I shrugged. She glared at Selena for a second, before her face softened and she smiled a little.

"I guess if you're over it, I should be too…it's just hard. Selena, do you have any idea what you did to my sister?"

"I know I hurt her, and I know everything I did was wrong-" she started, but Dallas cut her off.

"You didn't just hurt her. You almost killed her. And what you did…it was beyond wrong. It was horrific, the way you treated her. A girl you had never even had a full conversation with. But…I haven't seen Demi this happy in a while. Even now, when she isn't smiling, I see her look at you and…her whole face just lights up. And the same for you. I don't particularly like it, but…I want you to be happy, Demi. And if Selena makes you happy…I guess I can respect that. But if I hear you say one bad word about my sister ever again, you're going to regret the day you were born. I have a gun." She said, looking pointedly at Selena for that last part. Selena nodded.

"Don't worry. If I hurt Demi like I did before again, I'll help you pull the trigger myself." She said solemnly. I glanced at her, eyes wide, but she looked totally serious and not in the mood to discuss it. So I let it go, hoping that things would never come to that.

"So, Dallas, are you sure you don't have a problem with me being…you know…gay?" I managed to choke out. She shrugged.

"I know what it feels like to be in love. I don't care whether you feel that way for a boy or a girl; I'm just glad you have found it. I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't looking forward to being an aunt, but I guess it could still happen…besides, a girl is much less likely to break your heart. She knows how it feels." She shrugged. I grinned, jumping off the bed and running over to wrap my arms around her in a huge bear hug.

"I love you Dallas. You're the best sister ever." I said softly. She hugged me back, and I felt a wetness on my shoulder and realised she was crying.

"I love you too. And I'm not…you're the best sister ever." She argued. I chuckled.

"We're both the best sisters ever."

"True…you can't be a great sister without having a sister to be a great sister to…if that makes sense…" it might have sounded stupid, but it made perfect sense to me. We finally pulled apart and I smiled.

"Well…I guess I should probably tell mom now, right?" I asked. She grimaced.

"I'm not sure if mom will be as easy to win over as I was…but when she sees how happy you are, I'm sure she'll get over it."

"Do you think she'll have a problem with me being gay, then?" I asked. She shook her head.

"No, of course not! Mom loves you no matter what! It's your choice of girlfriend she might not like…in fact, I can guarantee she'll be angry at first. But things will be okay. Life has a funny way of sorting itself out, you know."

…

As it turned out, mom was a little harder to win over that Dallas was, but after a little convincing and a lot of tears, she finally came around. She didn't care that I was gay, to be fair. I think she's been through too much worrying about me to care about such a small detail like my sexuality. But she was pretty angry about me dating Selena. In fact, she might have kind of slapped Selena at one point…but Selena insists that she deserves it, and she refuses to let me make my mom apologise.

Eventually mom agreed to take the high road and let us alone. I mean, she still doesn't like Selena at all, but there's nothing I can do about that. I'm just relieved that she isn't trying to stop me being with her. Once we were finished dealing with my mom, Selena and I decided to go meet up with Joe. I needed to tell him about this before his feelings for me got any stronger. I would hate to hurt him too much; he's one of my only friends.

I text him to ask him to meet us outside his house, and was surprised by the instant reply. We walked slowly, knowing that he wouldn't be out of his house for a while…Joe's pretty slow at everything. Like, everything. He takes forever to do anything. Selena and I often make him order kids meals when we go out because if he has a big meal he'll be sat there for hours while we have to wait for him to finish.

When we finally reached his house he was just closing the door, shrugging on his jacket as he walked down the driveway towards us, grinning madly.

"Hey Sel…hey Demi." His smile increased considerably when he looked at me, and I blushed.

"Hey Joe. Look, there's something I need to tell you…something we both need to tell you. I don't want to hurt you but…look, I get the feeling that lately you've started to like me…as more than a friend." I started. He frowned, glancing at Selena, betrayal written all over his face.

"You told her?"

"Well, not really…"

"She didn't tell me anything. I figured it out myself. And…look, Joe, I love you. As a friend. You're, like, my best friend. And I don't want to lose you-I think it would kill me. But I don't want to hurt you by letting you think I might, one day, be interested…I'm gay, Joe. And Selena and I…"

"We're completely in love." Selena finished, looking at me and smiling happily. I couldn't help but smile back at her, but felt the smile slip from my face as I looked back at Joe. I could see the pain, and the shock, and most of all the confusion on his face. We all stood there for a minute or so, silent, before Joe took a deep breath, and…smiled.

"I love you guys. And I'm so glad you told me. You're not going to lose me. I liked you, I'll admit…but I'm not going to be angry. It's not like you chose to be gay, or to fall in love with Selena. But, tell me one thing…if you were straight, do you think I would have a chance?" he asked hopefully. I smiled, hugging him tightly.

"Of course you would. I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but you're hot, Joe. And you're sweet, and caring. And girls dig you. I know at least four girls in school who would die to go out with you." I told him. His face lit up.

"Really? Are you just saying that?" he asked. I laughed, shaking my head.

"No, of course not. Ask anyone; you're gorgeous." I smiled. He winced.

"Gorgeous is such a girly word. I'd prefer…buff." He smiled. I laughed.

"Fine. Joe, you are buff. If I was straight, I'd kill to date you." I told him.

"Oh, I know," he said cockily, "You know, I should've known you were gay. I mean, girls usually find me irresistible…I should have figured out that the only possible reason you hadn't tried anything was because you're gay. It all makes sense now."

"Oh, ha-ha. Very funny. Come on, Mr Arrogant. Let's go to the movies." I laughed, linking one arm through his and one through Selena's. I smiled to myself as we walked down the road, trying to trip each other up as we went. I had a feeling that the three of us were going to be friends, and more than friends in mine and Selena's case, for a long, long time.

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	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for the reviews! I love you all! **

**I'm trying something new for this chapter, and by that I mean a change in POV…I hope you like it as much as the rest of the chapters! **

**Enjoy! :D**

Chapter 16

Selena POV

When Joe picked me up for school on Monday, Demi was already in the car. I smiled at her, climbing into the back seat. She turned around to kiss me and I smiled. Joe rolled his eyes.

"Get a room." He joked. Demi punched his arm lightly.

"Shut up Joe. No need to be jealous." She said coyly.

"Actually, I have plenty of reason to be jealous."

"Aw, Joe, don't be like that…"

"I wasn't. I was joking. Chill, Dems." He chuckled. Demi relaxed and smiled, turning around again to smile and ask me how my night was.

"It was great. I haven't slept that well for years." I sighed, remembering how I fell asleep thinking of Demi, and the feeling of her lips against mine, and the sound of her laughter. Demi grinned.

"Same here." She said, looking me in the eyes. I could see something there, some kind of emotion that I couldn't quite understand.

Joe turned on the radio and we spent the rest of the journey in silence. Not uncomfortable silence, just the kind of silence you get between good friends when they have nothing to say to each other.

When we pulled up outside school I got out of the car and walked over to Selena. There were a few people watching us, as there had been ever since Demi came back, but not so many people. Still, when I felt Demi's hand brush mine I instantly pulled away. Demi frowned at me, confused, so I just shrugged lightly and started playing with my fingers. She looked hurt, and I wanted to apologise, to grab her hand and hold on tight, but she has only just stopped getting dirty looks and rude comments. If people find out she's gay, and dating me, it could go two ways. The least likely option would be that they accept it and move on, maybe even gain extra respect for her. The much more probable option that they start treating her badly again, and maybe me too. Not that I would care; I deserve a taste of my own medicine. But I can't put Demi through all that crap again. No way.

We were all in different lessons, so we hugged each other goodbye, Demi looking sad when we pulled away. I smiled at her and turned away, fighting the urge to grab her and kiss that sadness away.

My maths lesson passed in a blur. At least, I think it was maths. Maybe it was science. Or history…anyway, suffice to say I wasn't exactly paying attention. I had gym next, but Demi was in a separate group so I didn't have to explain to her. I was worse than usual in gym, and considering I'm usually crap, it's pretty lucky there were no casualties. I caught Demi's eye at one point. She was playing on the court next to us, and I had whirled around after being hit by the ball. She looked a little confused, but mostly worried. I smiled reassuringly, and she smiled back slightly. But the smile didn't reach her eyes, and I sighed as I turned away. I knew I was hurting her, but I was only trying to help her. Why couldn't she understand that?

When lunch finally rolled around I was exhausted. Trying to avoid Demi without actually making her think I was avoiding her was practically impossible, and the guilt was horrible. I made my way to the table I always sat at with Joe and Demi, a little relieved to see that Demi wasn't there yet.

"Hey Joe. How's your day been?" I asked him cheerily, but he just glared at me.

"What the fuck are you doing, Selena?" he asked, voice low and dangerous. My eyes widened; he was looking pretty scary.

"I, erm…what?" I gasped.

"In case you were wondering, your _girlfriend _is in the bathroom, crying her eyes out because she thinks you've decided she isn't good enough for you, and that you're embarrassed to be seen with her." He hissed. I froze.

"She thinks that?"

"Yeah, and if what she tells me is true, she has every reason to think that…why are you doing this to her? What happened?" he asked, looking sad and confused and, most of all, disappointed. I sighed.

"I just…I didn't want people to know she's gay. I mean, I know no-one cares about me, but with Demi…I'm worried they might take it badly. What if they get cruel, start saying things? Especially since I only just broke it off with Cassie…I can't let her go through that again." I sighed. Joe visibly relaxed and his expression softened drastically.

"Then why don't you just tell her that?" he asked. I opened my mouth to speak, but I realised I had no reason. Why didn't I just tell her that? It seemed like a logical thing to do. Groaning and mentally punching myself, I got up and started to move towards the door. But I didn't need to; Demi was already halfway across the cafeteria, and moving fast. She had a determined look on her face, but I could see pain and sadness in her eyes. Once she got to the table she sat down heavily and looked me in the eyes.

"Look, Selena, I get it if you're embarrassed about me. About us. But I would prefer it if you told me, rather than doing this; ignoring me, avoiding me. It hurts, Selena. More than anything else you have ever done to me. I know you've always prided yourself on being popular and having people like you, but I don't care what people think, or doo, or say. As long as I have you. But if I don't have you-" I rolled my eyes, getting to my feet and climbing onto the table. Then I reached down to grab her hands and pulled her up with me. By now everyone was looking at us, and it was almost silent.

"Demetria Devonne Lovato, I am not embarrassed about you at all. I love you. I am totally, completely in love with you. Sometimes it scares me, how much I love you. And I want to be with you. Forever." I said, loud enough for people to hear but not so loud it looked like I was only saying it for other people's benefit. She was frozen, eyes wide, and she looked so beautiful in that moment I couldn't help but kiss her.

She froze, before wrapping her arms around my waist and kissing me back. We kept it short, pulling away after only a couple of seconds. Everyone was staring at us both, in shock. I'm not surprised they were all so shocked, to be honest. I had done so much to her, practically ruined her life, and now here we were…making out on a table in front of pretty much the entire school. Even the lunch-lady looked surprised, but that probably had more to do with us being stood on the table.

We stayed there for a moment, looking around, before Joe stood up and started clapping. We both frowned at him, confused, but then other people started joining in. And then everyone was clapping, and whooping, and cheering. Well, most people. There were a few sat there, either still frozen in shock or glaring angrily, but we didn't care about those people. We cared about the people who were clapping and cheering for us.

"You guys are so brave!"

"You two make a great couple!"

"I'm sorry I was ever a bitch to you, Demi."

"Selena doesn't deserve a girl like you!"

"You two are amazing!"

"What are you thinking, Sel? Look at her!"

Those were just some of the comments thrown our way as we pushed our way out of the cafeteria. There were much less harsh comments than there were nice comments, for which I was grateful. I'll admit, the ones that were dissing me hurt a little, but then I just looked at Demi, at the way she was just ignoring the daggers sent her way, and knew that I had to be strong. I had done it to her enough; it was about time I got something back for it. Karma's a bitch, and all that crap.

When we got out of the cafeteria there were a few students milling around, unaware of everything that had just gone down. They would all know by the end of lunch. We hurriedly made our way outside, onto the field, and found a nice big tree to sit under. We spent the rest of lunch talking and laughing and kissing, trying to ignore the people who were staring at us. Eventually Demi got sick of it.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer!" she yelled at a group of freshmen who were ogling us and giggling. They all paled, looking frightened, and ran off. Demi glowered after them, but I just laughed.

"Aw, come on Dems, no need to be harsh. They've probably never seen two girls getting it on before…" I joked. She rolled her eyes but kissed me again.

We had English together last lesson, so when the bell rang for the end of lunch we split up. I went to my classroom, keeping my head down so that no-one would ask any questions. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Hey, Selena, how long have you and Demi been together?"

"What happened to Cassie?"

"Did you cheat on Cassie with Demi?"

"Have you been on a date yet?"

"Have you had sex with her?"

And so on. I just kept my head down, avoiding eye contact and ignoring them as much as possible as I shoved my way through the crowded hallway. Now I know what it feels like to be a celebrity bombarded by paparazzi…

"Ah, Miss Gomez, how nice of you to join us." Mrs Green said sarcastically as I tumbled into the classroom, two and a half minutes late. I rolled my eyes and apologised, and she gestured for me to sit down.

"Care to tell me why you're so late?" she asked.

"I was held up. People keep asking me questions and getting in my way." I said honestly. She scoffed.

"Sure, sure. Why would they do that?"

"Because I kissed my girlfriend on a lunch table in front of everyone." I shrugged. She smiled slightly. Mrs Green is actually a pretty nice teacher, and she loves a good gossip.

"Oh yeah? And who might this girlfriend be?" She asked.

"Demi Lovato."

"Demi Lovato? The girl you bullied for all those years? Are you sure?" she asked incredulously. I smiled sadly.

"Yeah, her. It's a long story, miss, and I can't believe I'm saying this but could we please just get on with the lesson?" I asked her. She nodded, and then changed to shaking her head.

"Well, the rest of the class can. Page ninety-seven onwards, class. I want you to finish the book by next lesson." She instructed, and then walked over to me. I sighed, readying myself for a lecture. But it didn't come.

"Remember how one of your conditions was for not being expelled? You had to tutor Miss Lovato. That shouldn't be too difficult now, considering she is your girlfriend, but she is in one of my classes and her grades are noticeably lower than everyone else's. Now, I'm not blaming you for this, because I know you probably haven't heard anything from the tutoring program. That's because they are hopeless at organising anything. But you can either organise these sessions through me, and I can work something out with the program and get you some extra credit for it, or you could do it outside of school for nothing." She explained. I was relieved, but now I felt guilty. I had completely forgotten about the tutoring thing. Now Demi's grades were low and it was my fault.

"I'll do it outside of school. I don't want extra credit for it; this was supposed to be a punishment." Said. She nodded.

"Great. I think you two should be able to work it out on your own, but if not I can get you some kind of syllabus from the program." She told me. I nodded.

"Thank you, miss. Demi's grades will be higher in no time. You have my word."

"Good. Now, come on, page ninety seven." She said, tapping the book on my desk and walking back to her desk. I smiled, opening the book and beginning to read.


	17. Chapter 17

**How much do you guys love me? This has to be the fastest I have updated this story yet! True, it's mostly because of a deal I made with my bezzie, but still...you better love me!**

**THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER!**

**Sorry, just had to say that because I think it may give you the wrong idea, or maybe I'm just being paranoid, but yeah, it's not the last. There are only a couple more left in it, though, unfortunately. Sorry.**

**I'm quite liking this chapter, although I have a bad feeling I may have messed up somewhere woth some ages...I won't ruin it, but please let me know in a review if you spot any mistakes! Thank you! :)**

**Love you Laura! This is for you! 3**

Chapter 17

When we got back to my place after school, Joe was acting really strange. When we got out of the car he was about to drive away, and only came inside with us after some convincing. I was confused and worried that he was mad at us for some reason, but then I saw the guilty look on his face and I knew he wasn't angry.

"What's wrong Joe?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me. I can tell there's something wrong. Now what is it?" I insisted. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck absentmindedly.

"Well…I guess I just feel weird, hanging out with you two. Now that you're dating, it's not like we're three friends anymore. It's more like…I'm the third wheel. And I don't want to get between you two doing…whatever it is that you do. Literally or figuratively." He explained. Awkwardly. I blushed.

"Aw, come on Joe. Nothing has to change. We're still friends!" I protested. Selena patted his shoulder comfortingly and then hugged him.

"Don't be like that. Seriously, I'd hate to lose you. Besides, there's plenty of time for us to do…whatever it is that we do." She shrugged. Joe chuckled.

"I guess…are you sure it's okay?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Come on, guys, I have the latest Desperate Housewives recorded and then Real Housewives of Orange County is on!" I exclaimed, grabbing Joe's arm and Selena's bag and dragging them into the lounge with me. **(A/N; I don't watch it, so I don't know when it's on, but we can just assume that it's a rerun or something****)**

Selena convinced me to make popcorn, which led onto a bug debate on what flavour popcorn to have. I hate salty, but it's Selena and Joe's favourite, and after shouting at each other for a good ten minutes I gave up and made both. I suppose that was the logical solution, and had I just done that in the first place it would have saved a lot of time, but I'm usually too stubborn to give in like that. The only reason I did today was because I'm tired.

Once I was done making the popcorn, I went back into the lounge. I threw a piece of popcorn at Selena's head because she had pressed play, so I had missed some of the episode. She just laughed and ate it. Joe was stretched out across the couch, so I nudged him and told him to move. He wouldn't budge. After a couple failed attempts to make him move I gave up and sat on him, making him groan in pain. I laughed, wriggling a little to annoy him. He just glared at me and took some popcorn.

Two hours later we turned off the TV and started talking. Joe was explaining what happened with his parents the night before. Apparently, and they were fighting for five hours about who would go pick his little brother up from school. Even after Joe went and picked him up, they still fought. Selena and I were laughing at the hilarious gestures he was making and the way he explained things. Joe had a gift for making things funny.

Eventually my mom, Dallas and Maddie got back from wherever they were and Joe decided to go home, before his mom freaked out. Selena decided to stay for a while, but Dallas wasn't exactly being nice to her, so we retreated to my bedroom.

"I'm so sorry about Dallas, Sel. She'll warm to you eventually, but for now I think she just needs to cool off. She's been through a lot lately, and I guess it's just hard for her to accept that I've managed to fall in love with someone who caused me so much pain while she's being caused so much pain because she fell in love with someone." I explained, sighing heavily. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me towards the bed, so we were lying down next to each other. She smiled at me lightly, before whispering in my ear;

"No matter what, I will always love you." And then she kissed me.

I felt unbelievably happy right then. I was in love with this beautiful, smart, talented, wonderful, perfect girl and somehow, for some strange reason, she had managed to fall in love with me back.

"I will always love you too." I replied, and I knew with every ounce of my being that it was true.

**Five Years Later**

"Miley! Can you grab Nick please?" I shouted at my friend, juggling a screaming two-year old and chasing Kevin, Nick's twin brother. Miley laughed, ruffling Debby's hair as she got up.

"Mom!" Debby grunted, looking away from her computer for a second to glare at her mom and fix her hair. Miley rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"There's no boys here, kiddo. Stop fretting." She muttered. Debby blushed madly.

"I know" Boys are gross, anyway, mom. I just don't want my hair to be a mess. Sheesh." She protested meekly, going back to her computer. Miley just rolled her eyes and turned to run after Nick, who was currently using Selena's Oscar as an aeroplane.

"Nicholas Gavin Lovato-Gomez, if you don't put that down right now I'm calling Uncle Joe!" she shouted. I laughed at the look on Nick's face as he stopped running, walked slowly over to the trophy case and set the Oscar down.

"Sorry Aunt Miley." He muttered meekly. She laughed, sliding her hands under his armpits and lifting him up.

"When are the others getting here?" she asked me, just as I grabbed Kevin's arm and pulled him over to me. She held out her hands and took Frankie, who instantly stopped crying. Of course. Only I would have a kid who prefers my best friend to me. I knelt down to look my three-year old, Kevin, in the eyes.

"Are you going to be a good boy like your brother and be quiet, or do you need a timeout?" I asked him. He giggled, but then his expression changed to one of a kid who knows they aren't getting away with anything today. He hung his head and mumbled a quiet 'yes mommy'. I smiled, kissing his forehead happily.

"Now, you go play with your brother quietly while I sort out Frankie, okay?" I instructed. He nodded, and then looked over at Debby.

"Can Debby play too?" he asked. Debby looked up, smiling at the two hopeful boys.

"She sure can." She beamed, closing her laptop and getting to her feet. I smiled; I hardly ever saw that girl without her eyes glued to her laptop screen, but somehow my twin sons had a way of getting her to do whatever they wanted without having to ask twice. Usually. Once they were gone I took Frankie back from Miley and sat down, laying him on the mat so I could change his nappy. Miley sat beside me.

"Sorry, Miles, what were you saying?" I asked her.

"When are the others getting here?" she asked. I smiled.

"Well, Selena should be finishing early, unless that stupid Diva actress decides to play up again…I swear, this girl is as bad as Lindsey Lohan. Selena is at her wits end. She says 'people like her are the only reason I ever regret going into directing'."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Selena will manage. And if she gets another Oscar-winning movie out of it, it's worth it, right?" I sighed.

"Hopefully, although after the fourth I think the Oscars started losing their attraction. Anyway, Naya and Heather said they would be here around six…so in about an hour. They said they have an announcement to make…I have a feeling they've finally gotten engaged! Anyway, then Lea, Taylor and Hannah are all coming together around half six, although knowing Hannah it will probably be closer to seven." I said. She smiled.

"And Joe?" she asked. I chuckled. Ever since Debby's father, Ryan, left her a year or so after she got out of treatment, she has had her eyes on Joe. I'm pretty sure he likes her back, but I don't want to push them. Miley is perfectly happy being single and I'm not sure how well Debby would deal with a new dad. She's been through enough in her ten years than most people go through in their entire lives. She has to be the strongest person I know.

"Joe should be here any minute now, actually." I said. She grinned, and then covered it up with a 'coughing fit'. I chuckled, focusing on my giggling baby.

You may be wondering how on earth Selena and I have children. Well, it's simple really. Nick and Kevin were adopted two and a half years ago, just as Selena's career as a director and mine as a singer were taking off. It was probably the worst time in the world for us, but we were introduced to the boys and instantly fell in love. They spent a lot of their first year with us with babysitters and nannies, but we always found time for them. Finally, when they both turned two, I decided I needed to stop working, at least for a while, to raise my children.

Then we met Georgina. She was fifteen and pregnant, and needed help. Long story short, we got the baby on the condition that she could come and see him whenever she wanted. And she got a say in what we named him. Luckily, she loved the name Frankie.

So, two months ago, Selena and I sat next to her, holding her hands as she gave birth to our baby. I think we both almost had panic attacks when she first held him, and the look on her face was so happy that we were afraid she might want to keep him. But then she turned to me and grinned, holding him out to me.

"Say hi to mommy." She cooed to him, and I grinned. Selena ran round the bed to see him, grinning madly.

So, anyway, now we have three children, Nick, Kevin and Frankie. We're really lucky to have Joe in our lives still; I think every boy needs some kind of father figure in their life, and Joe is perfect for that.

Over the last few years, one by one my friends have left treatment, and each and every one of them has been fine, for which I am eternally grateful.

I finished changing Frankie's diaper and picked him up, just as the doorbell rang. Miley jumped to her feet and practically ran to the door, and I laughed at her enthusiasm. Thirty seconds later she walked back in, Joe a step or two behind her. He was grinning broadly and looking at me expectantly.

"Let's get this party started!" he shouted. I counted to three, and sure enough…

"Uncle Joe!" Nick and Kevin yelled together as they burst into the room and threw themselves at him. He bent down to pick them up, twirling them around and ruffling their hair.

"Well, haven't you guys grown since I last saw you?" he I scoffed.

"You saw us yesterday, Uncle Joe." Nick said matter-of-factly. Kevin just laughed and stepped on Joe's toe, his usual greeting. And as usual, Joe's eyes widened and he grabbed his foot, pretending to be seriously injured. Kevin and Nick laughed, as usual.

"Hi Uncle Joe. You do realise that party doesn't start until later, right?" asked Debby as she walked in. He laughed and nodded, holding out his hands for a hug.

"As always, you have corrected me. Who is this party for, again?" he asked her jokingly. She rolled her eyes.

"Lydia and Natalie. It's their three-year anniversary. Remember?" she asked him. He smiled, face-palming dramatically.

"How could I forget? Three years ago today was the most terrifying day of my life."

"Huh?"

"I'd never seen so many girls crying as I did that day." He muttered, shuddering. Debby laughed, and Miley chuckled too, stopping suddenly when she caught my eye. I just smiled at her encouragingly.

"Okay, people, joking aside, we only have a few hours to get this place party-ready. Debby, I'm gonna need you to get al the kids out from under our feet. That okay with you?" I asked her. She nodded, already holding out her hands to take Frankie from me. Usually I wouldn't have considered trusting a ten-year-old to look after a two-month-old and two three-year-old terrors, but this was Debby. She was probably more capable than me.

Once they were gone, I looked from Miley to Joe, grinning.

"Are you guys ready?" I asked. They nodded eagerly, and we got to work.

**Please review! Pretty please, with a cherry on top and whipped cream and sprinkles and everything! :D**


	18. Chapter 18

**Last chapter guys! :O Can't believe it's over already! Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing and please know that I am so, so grateful for all of yoru support! I love you guys!**

**I hope you like the ending! :)**

Chapter 18

Three hours later, I find myself dancing with the love of my life in the middle of our lounge. Taylor, Lea and Hannah were chatting away about their latest escapades, the kids were dancing together beside us, Naya and Heather disappeared into the guest room a while ago to do God-knows-what, and Miley and Joe went outside to 'talk'. I think they might finally admit how they feel tonight…about time too. Joe's been lonely for too long, and Miley could use someone like Joe. They make such a great match.

"What are you thinking?" Selena asked, a content smile on her face. I shrugged.

"Just…thinking, I guess. About everything. Things turned out okay in the end, didn't they?" I asked her. She snorted.

"Things turned out better than okay, girl! All your friends are out of rehab and doing great, Joe's finally found someone he likes, as much as he tried to deny it, and you and I, we finally got our shit together and made things work. A lot of crap had to go down first, but we sorted it out in the end." She said, and I couldn't help but smile. The way she said it all so bluntly was so much more effective than if she had tried to sugar coat it. We'd had our problems, but we'd been strong and fixed things. When the song we had been dancing to finished, we stopped dancing and sat down on the couch. Things were silent for a second or, two, and I briefly wondered if my stereo had broken, before the speakers erupted into the opening chords of my song. We looked at each other, smiling, and I laughed a little when I noticed that everyone else in the room had turned to look at us, smiling.

"Please sing, Aunt Demi!" Debby pleaded. I smiled, a little unsure, but everyone was looking at me expectantly, and one nudge from Selena made up my mind. Grinning, I launched into song.

_**Skies are crying**_

_**I am watching**_

_**Catching teardrops in my hands**_

_**Only silence **_

_**As it's ending**_

_**Like we never had a chance**_

_**Do you have to**_

_**Make me feel like**_

_**There's nothing left of me?**_

_**You can take everything I have **_

_**You can break everything I am**_

_**Like I'm made of glass**_

_**Like I'm made of paper**_

_**And go on and try to tear me down**_

_**I will be rising from the ground**_

_**Like a skyscraper**_

_**Like a skyscraper**_

_**As the smoke clears **_

_**I awaken**_

_**And untangle you from me**_

_**Would it make you**_

_**Feel better**_

_**To watch me while I bleed**_

_**All my windows **_

_**Still are broken **_

_**But I'm standing on my feet**_

_**You can take everything I have**_

_**You can break everything I am **_

_**Like I'm made of glass**_

_**Like I'm made of paper**_

_**And go on and try to tear me down**_

_**I will be rising from the ground**_

_**Like a skyscraper**_

_**Like a skyscraper**_

_**Go run run run **_

_**I'm gonna stay right here**_

_**Watch you disappear, yeah**_

_**Go run run run**_

'_**Cause it's a long way down**_

_**And I am closer to the clouds up here**_

_**You can take everything I have**_

_**You can break everything I am**_

_**Like I'm made of glass**_

_**Like I'm made of paper**_

_**And go on and try to tear me down**_

_**I will be rising from the ground**_

_**Like a skyscraper **_

_**Like a skyscraper**_

_**Like a skyscraper**_

_**Like a skyscraper**_

_**Like a skyscraper**_

By the first chorus, everyone was singing along, and I couldn't help but allow the tears to stream freely down my face as we all brought the song to a close together.

"Mommy, are you a skyscraper?" asked Nick curiously. I nodded, smiling through the tears.

"Don't cry, mommy! Skyscraper's don't cry!" cried Kevin, getting to his feet and running over to wrap his arms around me, closely followed by his twin brother.

"I'm crying because I'm happy." I whispered. They held on tighter, and Selena soon joined in.

"Mom, can you please make mommy stop crying?" asked Nick. Selena laughed, pulling him onto her lap while I did the same to Kevin.

"She's crying happy tears, boys. Happy tears are good things. Your mommy went through some horrible things, but she got better. And she wrote that song to help her, and others like her, get through it. She's happy because she did get through it, and now she has all of us here to love her."

"Mom, are you a skyscraper too, like mommy?" asked Nick softly. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then shook her head.

"No. Skyscrapers are really, really strong. I'm not saying I'm not strong, but I've never had reason to be. Not like your mommy. But I wouldn't wanna be anybody else. I have an absolutely perfect wife, three absolutely perfect children, an amazing career and an unbelievable amount of people who love and care about me. I couldn't be happier. But no, I'm not a skyscraper, not quite. I'll never be as strong as your mommy." Selena said, and I felt myself tearing up.

"Don't be silly, Selena. You're strong, and you're probably the main reason I am as strong as I am. Your mom is being silly; of course she's a skyscraper. In her own way." I told the boys. They looked confused, but after a second or two their expressions simultaneously changed to ones of understanding.

"What happened to you mommy? Why did you need to turn into a building?" asked Nick. I frowned in confusion for a second, and then burst out laughing.

"Oh, Nick. I'll tell you all about it, one day. I promise. But for now, you two are a little young. And tonight is supposed to be a happy night, for celebrating! Come on!" I said, lifting Kevin off my lap and placing hi carefully on the floor.

"Let's all dance!" I shouted, shaking my hips to the opening bars of _Moves like Jagger._ After a little while Joe, Miley, Heather and Naya reappeared and we all danced together, one big happy family, and I can honestly say that I will never, ever have to be that strong again. Because I have so much love and support, if I ever gave in, I have all these amazing, perfect people to be strong for me, and to get me through it. And at the end of the day, _being_ strong can only get you so far. It's _staying _strongthat's really important. And with the help of those that love me, I can do that.

**Staystrongstaystrongstaystro ngstaystrongstaystrongstayst rongstaystrongstaystrong**

**The End. **

**I hope you all like the story! I'm pretty proud of this ending; I hope it meets all of your expectations! Please let me know what you think! I love all you guys, thank you all so much for your favourites, alerts and mostly for your reviews! Every single review I have gotten has helped to motivate me to write, so thank you! **

**Please review one last time, just to let me know what you thought of the ending. Thank you all so much once again!**

**Remember, no matter what, always STAY STRONG! **


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